ANOTHER 

&H/\pvDY  GARDEN 
!      BOOK 


H" 


ANOTHER 

HARDY  GARDEN 

BOOK 


ANOTHER 

HARDY  GARDEN 

BOOK 


BY 

HELENA   RUTHERFURD   ELY 

// 

Author  of  "A  Woman's  Hardy  Garden,"  etc. 


ILLUSTRATIONS  MADE  FROM  PHOTOGRAPHS  TAKEN 
IN  THE  AUTHOR'S  GARDEN 

BY   PROFESSOR   CHARLES  F.   CHANDLER 


THE    MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 

1905 

All  rights  reserved 
SIM 


Copyright,  1905 
By  The  MacmiUan  Company 


Bet  up,  electrotyped  and  printed. 
January,  1906 


TOT  MASON  PRESS 

SYRACUSE,  NEW  YORK 


DcDication 

TO 

ALFRED    ELY 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAQI 

I.     Introduction           .....  1 

II.     The  Vegetable  Garden           .                    .  16 

III.  Fruits 55 

IV.  A  Little  about  Trees    .          .          .          .  91 

Deciduous  Trees      .          .          .          .  103 

Evergreens      .          .          .          .          .  Ill 

V.      Perennials  and  Other  Flowers        .          .  127 

VI.     A  Garden  of  Lilies  and  Iris           .          .  163 

VII.     Autumn  Work  in  the  Flower  Garden    .  193 

VIII.     The  Flower  Garden  in  the  Spring         .  21 J 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACINO 
PAGB 

The  Pool Frontispiece 

July  twenty-fifth 

A  corner  for  afternoon  tea        ....          8 

Borders  filled  with  perennials  and  annuals  .         7 

June  twenty-fifth 

Vase  of  Pen  stem  on  Alba  .          .          .          .10 

July  fourth 

Stalks  of  Hyacinthus  Candicsns        ...       14 
August  twenty-first 

Large  fringed  Poppies     .          .          .          .          .19 
July  ninth 

A  single  blossom  of  Anemone  Japonica  Whirlwind       23 
September  seventeenth  » 

At  the  end  of  a  lawn 27 

August  tenth 

A  small  shrubbery  four  years  after  planting       .       30 

September  nineteenth 

Borders  and  vine  covered  pergola  37 

July  fifteenth 

A  bed  of  Anemone  Japonica  Whirlwind    .          .       44 
September  nineteenth 

id 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 
PAGE 

Arbor  Vitas  Pyramidalis  .  ...       53 

August  tenth 

An  entrance  to  the  Lily  garden        ...       60 
September  eighteenth 

Cedar  tree  transplanted  from  the  woods    .          .       69 
September  twentieth 

Tall  pointed  cedars  in  the  Lily  garden      .          .       76 
July  twenty-third 

The  Lily  garden  in  Auratum  time    .  83 

July  tenth 

White  Birch  eight  years  after  being  planted 

as  a  small  tree  about  four  feet  high       .          .       94 
September  seventeenth 

Young  Irish  Yew  .          .          .          .  -        .          .99 
August  tenth 

Cut  leaved  Maple,  eight  years  after  planting  as 

a  tiny  tree  ......     101 

September  seventeenth 

Catalpa  Bungii  four  years  old  .          .          .108 

July  seventeenth 

Three  Evergreen  trees  dug  from  the  woods         .     110 
July  twenty-third 

Standard  Retinispora  Plumosa  .          .          .115 

August  twenty-seventh 

xii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PACING 

PAGE 


Horse  Chestnut  tree  (slow  growing)  eight  years 

after  planting     .          .          .          .          .          .119 

September  fourth 

Hop  Hornbeam,  a  rare  and  slow  growing  tree  of 
compact  form,  eighteen  years  after  planting  .     122 
September  twenty-second 

Thuja  Vervaeneana          .          .          .          .          .126 
August  twelfth 

Vase  of  Campanula  Pyramidalis         .          .          .133 
August  twenty-first 

A  single  plant  of  Platycodon    .          .          .          .135 
July  tenth 

Vase  of  Giant  White  Poppies  .          .          .     138 

July  tenth 

A  clump  of  Veronica  Longifolia        .          .          .140 
August  tenth 

Boconia  Cordata     .          .          .          .          .          .147 

July  seventeenth 

\aseofPlatycodon  .          .          .          .          .151 

July  tenth 

A  little  pond  ready  for  planting       .          .          .154 
October  ninth 

Vase  of  Dictamnus  .          .          .          .          .158 

May  twenty-fifth 

Vase  of  Columbines 161 

May  twenty-fifth 

Xiii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 
PAGE 

A  single  blossom  of  white  Japanese  Iris     .          .163 
July  fourth 

Hydrangeas  around  the  pool    .  .          .          .167 

July  twenty-third 

Vase  of  Siberian  Iris, 170 

May  twenty-fifth 

Vase  of  « '  Brazilian  Lilies  "      .          .          .          .172 
June  eleventh 

Vase  of  Striped  Japanese  Iris  .          .          .          .176 
July  fourth 

Spanish  Iris  .          .          .          .          .          .          .179 

June  eleventh 

A  clump  of  white  Japanese  Iris         .          .          .183 
July  third 

Nelumbium  Speciosum      .          .          .          .          .186 
September  twentieth 

Vase  of  Liltium  Longrftorum     .          ,          .          .190 
July  tenth 

Vase  of  White  Japanese  Iris    .          .          .          .197 
Jnly  fourth 

Pale  violet  Japanese  Iris,  veined  with  purple      .     205 
July  third 

LilUum  Longiflorum         .....     209 
July  tenth 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACING 
PAGE 

Vase  of  Llllhtm  Kramerl  .          .          .          .215 

July  fourth 

Pale  Lilac  Centauria        .          .          .          .          .     218 
July  tenth 

Funkias          .          .          .          .  .          .224 

August  twenty-fourth 


INTRODUCTION 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

aesthetic  side  of  Nature  has  al- 
ways  appealed  most  strongly  to  woman. 
The  shadows  on  the  mountain  side,  the  deep 
green  coolness  of  the  forest,  the  mighty 
trees  and  tropical-like  foliage  of  the  thick- 
ets, the  murmur  of  the  splashing  brook,  the 
golden  lights  in  its  still  brown  pools,  and 
the  clear  blue  lake,  all  fill  her  mind  with 
dreams;  troubles  and  cares  flee  away,  and 
she  is  transported  to  the  world  of  imagi- 
nation. 

Man,  alas!  looks  upon  the  brook  with  its 
quiet  pools  as  a  sure  place  for  trout.  In 
the  forest  he  hopes  to  meet  a  deer,  perhaps 
a  moose,  possibly,  if  he  be  very  brave,  a 
bear.  For  him  the  thicket  is  but  a  covert 
for  quail,  pheasant,  or  partridge,  and  the 
3 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

blue  lake  a  likely  place  for  fish,  or  the 
wild  duck.  The  primeval  love  of  the  chase 
survives  as  a  passion  in  his  heart.  Chained 
perhaps  to  city  and  office  and  free  for  only 
a  few  weeks  in  the  year,  he  plans  all  the 
long  months  to  get  away  for  these  weeks 
into  the  wild,  and  to  kill  something,  not 
only  for  the  savage  joy  of  killing,  but  that 
he  may  eat.  Eating!  how  much  of  the 
tragedy  and  pleasure  and  anxiety  of  life 
surround  the  word!  Tragedy  for  the  un- 
fortunates whose  light  is  extinguished  for 
lack  of  food,  and  of  whose  pangs  those 
who  only  know  enough  of  hunger  to  call 
it  good  appetite,  can  have  no  conception; 
and  pleasure  to  the  agreeable  people  who 
meet  around  a  dainty,  well-served  table  to 
share  a  well-cooked  meal!  Best  of  all,  per- 
haps, the  dinner  or  luncheon  tete-a-tete,  or 
with  a  party  of  congenial  spirits  whose  talk 
can  be  the  spice  of  life.  With  breakfast, 
luncheon  and  dinner  coming  as  regularly  as 
night  follows  day,  how  rarely  do  we  think 


INTRODUCTION 

of  the  anxiety  and  the  labor  that  have  gone 
to  their  production. 

The  world  is  inhabited  by  bread  winners 
toiling  for  a  home  and  for  food.  It  may 
be  that  the  home  is  but  a  hovel  and  the 
food  only  the  portion  necessary  to  sustain 
life.  Or  the  "home"  may  be  town  and 
country  house,  with  villa  by  the  sea  and 
mountain  camp.  Yet  the  toiler  is  back  of 
it  all,  working  with  head  or  with  hands; 
and  with  all,  the  object  is  still  the  same, 
with  a  difference  only  in  degree. 

Idlers  in  the  market  place  are  compara- 
tively few  and  are  but  ciphers  in  the  world. 
The  man  whose  fortune  is  inherited,  who 
accepts  his  wealth  as  a  trust,  and  feels  that 
his  money  and  his  position  bring  obligation, 
to  whose  generosity  and  continued  care  we 
owe  hospitals,  trade  schools,  universities  and 
other  institutions,  has  really  less  freedom 
from  care  and  less  time  absolutely  his  own 
than  the  craftsmen  and  laborers,  whose 
daily  toil  alone  provides  their  daily  needs. 
5 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

Was  there  ever  a  man  whose  life  has 
been  told  in  prose  or  song,  whose  days,  for 
a  time  at  least,  were  so  gentle  an  idyl  as 
those  of  Elijah  by  the  brook  Cherith,  when, 
worn  with  the  stress  of  life  and  with  jour- 
neying to  and  fro  in  the  earth,  he  came  to 
dwell  in  the  shade  by  a  murmuring  brook 
and  was  fed  by  the  birds?  With  no  care 
and  no  anxiety,  he  had  time  to  rest  and  to 
commune  with  Nature.  And  when  the  water 
of  the  brook  ran  low  and  quietude  began 
to  pall  and  the  ravens'  diet  grew  tiresome, 
he  was  sent  to  the  house  of  a  widow,  prob- 
ably young,  for  her  son  whom  he  was  able 
to  restore  to  her  from  death  was  a  child, 
and  certainly  comely.  For  are  not  all 
widows  comely,  and  do  not  all  men  and 
most  women  admit,  that  for  charm  and 
magnetism  and  knowledge  of  the  ways  of 
mankind,  other  women  compared  to  a  widow 
are  as  "moonlight  unto  sunlight,  and  as 
water  unto  wine"?  Moreover,  Elijah's  widow 
had  a  taste  for  culinary  matters,  for  her 
6 


INTRODUCTION 

cakes  were  light  and  good  and  she  had  many 
ways  of  making  them. 

Is  there  not  a  saying  about  the  way  to 
a  man's  heart?  But  are  not  many  women 
often  indifferent  to  what  they  eat?  The 
table  must  be  orderly  and  attractive  and  the 
cooking  good,  but  for  them  food  is  rather 
a  necessity  only.  Were  it  not  for  other 
members  of  the  family  many  women  would, 
I  imagine,  be  quite  content  to  live  on  simple 
things,  milk  and  cream,  fruit  and  nuts,  with 
possibly  some  of  those  wonderful  breakfast 
foods  whose  merits  for  health  and  eternal 
vigor  are  recounted  in  the  advertising  pages 
of  every  magazine  and  newspaper  and  stare 
at  one  from  bill-boards,  in  trolley  car  and 
station. 

Most  men  who  care  for  gardening  devote 
themselves  rather  to  the  utilitarian  side  of 
the  craft.  They  are  deeply  interested  and 
generally  successful  in  producing  the  finest 
vegetables  and  fruits,  while  flowers  come  as 
a  secondary  consideration.  May  this  not  be 
7 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

due  to  an  inherited  trait  of  ancient  date? 
Primitive  man,  having  been  obliged  for 
centuries  to  provide  the  food  for  himself 
and  those  dependent  upon  him  through  the 
chase  and  the  tillage  of  the  soil,  it  may  be 
that  his  descendants  of  to-day  in  moments 
of  leisure  still  turn  instinctively  to  Mother 
Earth  for  delicacies  for  their  tables,  and 
leave  to  women  the  aesthetic  part  of  gar- 
dening. 

A  woman's  heart  in  gardening  is  with 
her  flowers  and  shrubs,  and  the  raising  of 
vegetables  is  often  a  propitiatory  offering 
to  the  other  members  of  the  family,  who 
might  otherwise  accuse  her  of  too  much 
attention  to  the  merely  ornamental  and 
beautiful.  But  if  she  care  at  all  for  grow- 
ing things,  she  will  naturally  do  what  she 
can  to  make  the  vegetable  garden  success- 
ful; she  will  see  that  as  many  varieties  as 
possible  are  grown,  and  that  if  possible  her 
table  is  supplied,  throughout  the  season, 
with  fruits  and  vegetables  from  her  own 
8 


INTRODUCTION 

garden.  She  will  even  compete  with  her 
neighbors  for  the  first  peas  or  corn.  Who 
does  not  know  the  mortifying  question, 
"Have  you  had  peas  from  your  garden 
yet?"  The  condition  of  mine  when  others 
have  announced  that  "they  had  them  last 
week"  has  often  induced  in  me  the  secret 
thought  that  their  "peas"  must  have  been 
only  "pods." 

In  taking  women  through  my  flower  gar- 
dens I  have  never  heard  one  ask  about  the 
vegetable  garden,  but  I  do  not  remember  a 
single  instance  of  showing  the  flowers  to 
a  man  who  failed  to  inquire  with  a  strong 
note  of  interest  about  the  vegetable  garden. 

Aside  from  the  pleasure  of  raising  your 
own  vegetables,  and  their  superiority  in 
freshness  and  delicacy,  it  is  certainly  an 
economy,  and  if  the  work  be  done  regularly 
the  garden  is  easily  kept  in  order. 

All  well-ordered  houses  are  run  system- 
atically, certain  work  being  done  on  certain 
days.  The  garden  must  be  attended  to 
9 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

with  the  same  system.  Every  part  of  the 
work  should  have  its  special  time  and  be 
carefully  laid  out.  The  men  in  a  large 
garden  thus  know  what  is  to  be  done  each 
day;  and  if  but  one  man  be  kept  he  will 
easily  accomplish  more  with  better  results 
than  if  the  work  be  done  in  his  own  potter- 
ing way.  If  the  same  routine  be  followed 
in  a  little  garden  cared  for  by  the  members 
of  a  family,  each  bed  or  border  weeded  on 
a  particular  day,  vines  and  plants  tied  up, 
grass  cut,  edges  trimmed  with  shears,  and 
all  the  other  necessary  things  done  regu- 
larly, then  the  garden  will  be  always  in 
order,  and  weeds  will  have  no  chance  to 
become  rampant. 

The  impetus  that  gardening  has  lately 
received  in  this  country  has  resulted  in  the 
greatest  improvement  in  towns  and  villages. 
But  what  makes  more  for  general  and  most- 
to-be  desired  improvement  and  beauty  is  not 
the  half  dozen  fine  places  in  a  town,  but 
the  many  streets  lined  with  pretty  unpre- 
10 


Vase  of  Penstemon  Alba 
.Tulv  fourth 


INTRODUCTION 

tentious  houses,  each  with  neat  lawn  and 
flower  borders,  a  few  shrubs,  two  or  three 
good  trees,  and  having  in  the  rear  a  small 
vegetable  garden,  all  cared  for  by  the 
owner,  with  perhaps  a  man  for  a  day  now 
and  then. 

If  the  vegetable  garden  be  gone  over 
carefully  once  a  week,  every  weed  taken 
out  by  the  roots,  and  the  earth  well  stirred 
and  loosened  with  the  hoe  or  cultivator,  the 
vegetables  will  thrive  and  the  place  always 
look  neat.  If  the  garden  be  good-sized,  a 
cultivator,  with  its  array  of  tools,  will  'be 
found  a  great  saving  of  labor;  but  if  small, 
a  rake,  spade,  hoe  and  trowel  will  answer 
every  purpose. 

Where  the  place  is  too  small  for  a 
complete  vegetable  garden,  a  plot  of  ground 
twenty  feet  by  thirty,  if  well  fertilized  and 
well  cared  for,  will  yield  enough  tomatoes, 
cauliflower,  egg-plants,  peppers,  lettuce  and 
parsley  for  a  family  of  eight  persons.  On 
this  plot  there  is  room  for  four  dozen  cauli- 
11 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

flowers,  four  dozen  egg-plants,  two  dozen 
pepper  plants,  three  dozen  tomato  plants, 
three  crops  of  lettuce,  and  sufficient  parsley. 

But  little  time  is  required  for  the  care  of 
so  small  a  plot  if  it  be  regularly  attended 
to.  The  plants  can  be  raised  from  seed 
sown  the  first  of  March  in  boxes  in  sunny 
windows,  or  in  a  small  hot-bed,  or  they  may 
be  bought  about  the  18th  or  20th  of  May, 
which  is  the  time  to  set  them  out.  Two  of 
the  seedsman's  packets  of  each  variety  of 
seed,  costing  but  five  cents  each  (except  the 
Cauliflower,  which  is  ten  cents),  will  raise 
more  than  sufficient  plants. 

I  should  like  to  see  every  little  house 
with  even  a  bit  of  ground  about  it,  beauti- 
fied with  vines  and  shrubs  and  ferns  planted 
closely  about  the  foundations  of  the  house, 
with  flower  borders  along  the  fences  and 
dividing  lines,  and  with  a  little  patch  of 
vegetables  in  the  rear. 

A  home  is  always  more  a  home  when  the 
outside  is  cultivated  and  made  beautiful. 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

Go  out  into  the  country,  oh  ye  flat  dwell- 
ers of  the  city,  and  make  a  home;  have  a 
few  rods,  if  no  more,  of  your  own  ground 
about  you  and  till  it,  and  tend  it;  the 
flowers  you  raise  will  be  sweeter  and  more 
beautiful  to  you  than  any  displayed  in 
florists'  windows,  and  no  vegetables  that  can 
be  bought  will  compare  in  flavor  with  those 
you  will  raise  yourself.  If  every  woman 
blessed  with  a  place  of  her  own  would  do 
what  she  could  to  interest  her  humbler 
neighbors,  giving  them  seeds,  plants  and 
shrubs  from  her  own  garden,  telling  how 
they  should  be  planted  and  cared  for,  and 
interesting  the  children  in  raising  flowers 
and  vegetables,  the  result  would  be  not  only 
a  beautified  community,  but  a  bond  of  sym- 
pathy between  people  in  all  walks  of  life, 
with  a  softening  and  refinement  of  char- 
acter that  comes  from  the  spread  of  the  love 
of  Nature. 


13 


Stalks  of  Hyacinthus  Candicans 
August  twenty-first 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  VEGETABLE  GARDEN 

THE  size  of  the  vegetable  garden  will 
naturally  depend  upon  the  space  at 
your  disposal.  Let  everyone  with  even  a 
little  ground  give  a  certain  portion,  no 
matter  how  small,  to  the  growing  of  vege- 
tables, and  if  possible,  raise  enough  of  these 
good  things  to  supply  the  home  table  and 
occasionally  to  spare  a  choice  basketful  to  a 
less  fortunate  friend. 

The  vegetable  garden,  if  a  large  one, 
should  always  be  laid  out  so  that  access  can 
be  readily  had  to  all  parts  of  it,  either  by 
horse  and  cart  or  with  a  wheelbarrow. 

I  have  a  lasting  monument   to   my  own 

short-sightedness   in   a   garden   laid   out   in 

Box-edged  plots.     There  is  ample  room  for 

a  horse  and  cart  to  pass  between  the  plots, 

17 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

but  no  place  to  turn,  so  the  cart  must  be 
backed  out  the  way  it  came  in;  and  of 
course,  neither  cart  nor  wheel-barrow  can 
fly  over  Box-edges,  so  the  cart  must  be  un- 
loaded into  the  wheel-barrow  and  a  bridge 
of  boards  made  over  the  Box-edging,  in  the 
Spring  to  bring  fertilizer  and  in  Autumn  to 
carry  away  rubbish. .  There  is  no  way  of 
remedying  this  serious  fault  but  by  rear- 
ranging the  entire  garden,  and  the  trees  and 
plants  have  now  acquired  such  a  fine  growth 
that  I  am  unwilling  to  take  this  radical 
course,  so  the  work  must  be  done  under  the 
consequent  disadvantage  and  loss  of  time. 

An  ideal  vegetable  garden  is  surrounded 
by  a  hedge  of  Siberian  Arbor  Vitae,  or 
Hemlock  Spruce;  both  are  beautiful  to  look 
at,  either  through  the  Winter  months  when 
anything  green  is  so  restful  to  the  eye 
wearying  for  verdure,  or  in  Summer  when 
the  feathery  shoots  of  light  green  are  things 
of  beauty.  An  evergreen  hedge  is  also  val- 
uable both  as  a  wind  break  or  protection  in 
18 


, 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

Spring  and  Fall,  and  as  a  screen  during 
the  Winter,  when,  in  the  absence  of  snow, 
bare  earth  only  is  visible  and  the  vegetable 
garden  is  unattractive. 

Running  around  the  garden,  inside  the 
hedge,  there  may  be  first  a  border  six  feet 
wide,  where  herbs  and  various  perennial 
flowers  for  picking  can  be  grown.  At  one 
end,  with  the  right  exposure,  and  the  hedge 
at  the  back,  an  excellent  place  can  be  found 
for  cold-frames  and  hot-beds.  Inside  this 
border,  unless  your  space  be  limited,  there 
should  be  a  broad  path,  certainly  eight  feet 
wide,  for  a  horse  and  cart  to  pass  around 
the  garden,  which  should  be  intersected  at 
right  angles  by  wide  paths  crossing  the 
garden  in  each  direction  through  the  center, 
leaving  four  plots  of  equal  size,  one  of 
which  should  be  devoted  to  small  fruits,  un- 
less there  is  space  for  them  elsewhere.  This 
is  a  most  practical  plan  for  a  large  garden 
which  can  be  both  a  flower  and  vegetable 
garden  by  making  additional  borders  from 
19 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

four  to  six  feet  wide  for  flowers  along  the 
four  front  sides  of  each  plot,  leaving  the 
middle  of  each  plot  for  the  vegetables. 

If  your  ground  be  so  limited  that  provi- 
sion can  be  made  only  for  vegetables,  the 
same  general  plan  may  be  followed,  omit- 
ting the  borders  for  flowers  and  narrowing 
the  paths  in  proportion.  These,  however, 
should  not  be  less  than  three  or  four  feet 
wide,  that  a  wheel-barrow  may  pass  com- 
fortably in  all  directions. 

The  vegetable  garden  should  be  on  well- 
drained  land  made  as  nearly  level  as  pos- 
sible. Where  the  ground  slopes,  fertilizer 
and  top  soil  will  be  washed  by  heavy  rains 
to  the  foot  of  the  slope,  and  in  dry  weather 
the  earth  is  more  likely  to  become  hard  and 
caked.  Fine  seeds,  too,  when  sown  on  an 
incline,  may  be  washed  away  if  heavy  rains 
come  before  they  germinate.  Ground  not 
naturally  level  can  be  terraced. 

Light  rich  loam,  which  is  the  ideal  garden 
soil,  is  not  possessed  by  all,  so  the  next  best 

go 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

thing  is  to  help  the  natural  soil  by  giving  it 
the  lacking  constituents.  Plenty  of  well- 
rotted  stable  manure,  muck  from  low  lands 
if  it  can  be  had,  wood  ashes,  bone  meal,  a 
sprinkling  of  air  slaked  lime,  and,  if  the 
soil  be  stiff  or  clayey,  some  sand  may  be 
added. 

If  the  vegetable  garden  is  large,  the 
parts  where  corn,  beets,  and  beans  are  to  be 
planted  can  be  broken  up  first  with  a 
plow  and  thoroughly  harrowed  before  rak- 
ing, otherwise  let  the  ground  be  well  spaded 
and  the  earth  thoroughly  pulverized,  then 
smoothed  down  with  a  rake.  Proper  prep- 
aration of  the  soil  is  the  first  essential  for 
the  production  of  good  crops;  then  if  the 
ground  be  frequently  stirred  and  kept  free 
from  weeds,  you  cannot  fail  of  success. 

Having  arranged  and  prepared  your 
ground,  then  comes  the  planting. 

Vegetables  should  always,  if  the  space 
permits,  be  planted  in  rows,  as  this  facili- 
tates cultivation  and  lightens  the  labor. 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

All  the  space  at  your  disposal  should  be 
constantly  utilized  and  the  moment  one  crop 
has  finished  bearing,  it  should  be  pulled  up, 
some  more  fertilizer  spread,  the  ground 
again  spaded  and  raked,  and  another  crop 
sown.  For  instance,  a  second  crop  of  beans 
can  follow  the  spring  spinach,  and  the  third 
crop  of  peas  may  be  grown  where  the  first 
beans  ripened.  Carrots  can  follow  the  first 
crop  of  peas;  celery  the  second  crop,  and 
so  on.  Beans,  peas,  etc.,  can  follow  each 
other  on  the  same  soil  if  it  be  well  enriched 
and  again  prepared  before  each  planting, 
but  it  is  preferable  to  follow  one  crop  by 
another  of  a  different  variety. 

Asparagus,  rhubarb,  and  currants,  which 
no  garden,  unless  very  small,  should  be 
without,  are  long-lived  and  hardy,  and  if 
planted  carefully  in  the  first  instance,  will 
keep  in  fine  condition  and  bear  for  many 
years,  with  the  simplest  care. 

The    following   vegetables    are   grown   in 


A  single  blosson  of  Anemone  Japonica  Whirlwind 
September  seventeenth 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

most  gardens  of  any  size,  require  no  special 
skill,  are  easily  raised,  are,  most  of  them,  in 
their  season,  on  the  menu  of  every  good 
housekeeper  when  she  can  procure  them,  and 
give  a  sufficient  variety  for  any  ordinary 
household : 

'Artichokes; — The  French  Globe  is  the  best 
variety.  Seed  may  be  sown  in  boxes  in  the 
house,  or  in  the  hot-bed  about  March  1st 
and  the  plants  set  out  in  the  open  ground 
the  end  of  May  in  rows  two  feet  apart 
each  way.  The  soil  should  be  a  rich  deep 
sandy  loam  with  plenty  of  well-rotted  ma- 
nure. If  sown  very  early  and  the  season 
is  favorable,  artichokes  will  begin  to  appear 
in  September.  But  as  a  rule  they  do  not 
yield  until  the  following  season.  Being  per- 
ennials, they  will  bear  any  number  of  years. 
North  of  Washington  the  plants  should  be 
tied  to  stakes  in  November  and  the  spaces 
between  the  rows  and  also  between  the  plants 
filled  in  well  over  the  tops  of  the  plants 
with  earth,  and  a  good  coating  of  stable 
23 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

litter  placed  over  all;  or  they  may  be  lifted 
and  kept  over  the  Winter  in  a  pit  or  cold 
frame.  Not  very  much  grown  in  this  coun- 
try, they  are  certainly  worth  the  trouble,  as 
no  vegetable  is  more  delicious. 

The  edible  part  is  the  flower  head,  which 
must  be  cut  before  the  flower  expands. 
Artichokes  for  eating  are  boiled  and  well 
drained,  and  served  with  a  Hollandaise 
sauce,  or  placed  on  ice  after  boiling  until 
they  are  cold  and  eaten  as  salad  with  French 
dressing.  Or  again,  after  cooking,  the  heart, 
or  "fond,"  as  the  French  call  it,  is  removed 
from  the  leaves  and  served  in  various  ways. 

One  ounce  of  seed  will  raise  a  sufficient 
number  of  plants. 

Asparagus.  When  there  is  space  there 
should  always  be  an  asparagus  bed.  There 
is  trouble  in  making  it,  but  once  done  it  is 
there  for  years  to  come.  For  a  family  of 
eight,  four  rows  twenty-five  feet  long  and 
three  feet  apart  will  give  an  ample  supply. 
But  double  the  space  can  well  be  given 
t* 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

to  the  asparagus  bed.  Make  four  trenches, 
each  sixteen  inches  deep,  three  feet  apart 
and  twenty-five  feet  long;  put  six  inches  of 
well-rotted  manure  in  the  bottom  and  cover 
this  with  four  inches  of  rich  garden  soil; 
then  set  the  plants  eighteen  inches  apart, 
spreading  out  the  roots  carefully,  and  fill 
up  the  trenches  with  good  earth.  It  is  a 
saving  of  time  to  buy  the  plants,  and  if 
two  years  old,  they  may  bear  the  year  after 
they  are  set.  If  one-year-old  plants  are 
used,  the  bed  should  not  be  cut  for  two 
years. 

Asparagus  should  be  set  out  in  the  Spring. 
Care  must  be  taken  to  have  the  manure 
well  packed  down  and  the  plants  firmly  set 
in  the  earth.  In  the  very  early  Spring,  the 
third  week  of  March  if  not  before,  the  As- 
paragus bed  should  receive  a  thick  coating 
of  stable  manure,  which  must  be  well  forked 
into  the  ground  at  once.  In  early  Summer, 
as  soon  as  the  bed  has  ceased  bearing,  sow 
over  the  surface  of  the  bed  two  bags  each 


ANOTHER   HARDY- GARDEN   BOOK 

of  bone  meal  and  nitrate  of  soda  which 
have  been  well  mixed. 

The  crowns  of  the  plant  and  the  buds 
which  form  the  stalks  for  the  following 
year,  make  their  growth  during  the  Summer, 
which  is,  therefore,  the  time  to  feed  them. 
The  old  practice  of  covering  the  bed  with 
manure  in  November  and  forking  it  into 
the  ground  in  Spring  has  been  done  away 
with,  and  instead  the  plants  are  stimulated 
at  the  time  of  growth.  From  time  to  time 
before  sowing  the  nitrate  of  soda  and  bone 
meal,  some  of  the  earth  should  be  removed 
from  over  the  plants  so  that  the  tops  of  the 
crowns  are  not  more  than  three  inches  below 
the  surface.  Formerly  everyone  sowed  salt 
on  the  asparagus  bed,  but  I  have  not  found 
that  it  serves  as  a  fertilizer,  but  rather  to 
kill  the  weeds,  which  grow  rapidly  in  the 
rich  soil. 

Because  of  its  rich  earth  there  is  no  bet- 
ter place  than  between  the  rows  of  the 
asparagus  for  cauliflower  and  egg-plants, 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

and  their  cultivation  will  keep  the  bed  free 
from  weeds  after  it  has  ceased  to  bear. 

An  asparagus  bed  should  never  be  cut 
too  closely.  Leave  three  or  four  stalks  on 
each  plant  to  mature,  so  that  the  roots  may 
be  better  nourished. 

Beans  are  easily  injured  by  frost,  so  that 
it  is  not  safe  to  sow  the  first  crop  before 
the  10th  of  May  unless  the  season  is  very 
early.  Make  the  drills  two  inches  deep  and 
eighteen  inches  apart,  drop  in  the  beans 
every  three  inches  and  cover  them  with  about 
two  inches  of  earth.  Four  crops  can  well 
be  planted,  and  the  rule  in  our  garden  is  to 
plant  the  second  crop  when  the  first  is  about 
four  inches  high,  and  the  third  when  the 
second  planting  has  reached  the  same  height. 
The  last  crop  can  be  planted  the  first  week 
in  August. 

Two  quarts  of  seed  will  be  sufficient  for 

all    the    plantings    for    a    family    of    eight. 

There  are  many  varieties;  each  seedsman  has 

some  specialty,  and  the  same  variety  often 

27 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

appears  under  different  names,  but  the  small, 
crisp,  green-podded  ones  are  infinitely  the 
best. 

Beans  are  so  easy  to  produce,  that  gar- 
deners are  apt  to  raise  a  larger  quantity  of 
them  than  of  any  other  vegetable.  A  friend 
who  has  a  large  garden  and  employs  several 
men,  told  me  recently  a  story  of  his  expe- 
rience last  year  with  beans  and  gardeners. 
He  had  asked  his  head  gardener  in  the 
spring  about  mid- April  if  he  had  begun  the 
vegetable  garden,  and  the  man  replied,  "Not 
yet,  it  is  too  cold  and  wet."  To  a  similar 
enquiry  in  mid-May  the  reply  was,  "It  is 
too  warm  and  dry."  As  a  result,  little  else 
but  the  prolific  bean  was  raised  in  that 
garden  during  the  Summer,  all  the  other 
vegetables  being  sent  out  from  town;  but 
beans  large  and  beans  small,  in  great  quan- 
tities, were  brought  in  daily  by  the  gardener 
until  finally  not  a  member  of  the  household 
would  partake  of  them  longer. 

Lima  Beans  are  among  the  most  tender 
28 


THE  VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

of  the  vegetables  and  must  not  be  exposed 
to  any  frost;  therefore  in  the  locality  of 
Central  and  Southern  New  York  the  last 
week  in  May  is  early  enough  to  plant  them. 
Make  hills  two  feet  apart  in  rows  two  and 
a  half  to  three  feet  apart.  Set  poles  eight 
feet  or  more  in  height  firmly  in  the  center 
of  each  hill  and  then  plant  the  beans  about 
five  to  a  hill.  As  the  plants  grow  they 
must  be  wound  about  the  poles. 

A  quart  of  Lima  beans  will  be  enough 
for  one  family. 

Beets.  The  small  dark  red  round  Beets 
are  the  best.  The  first  crop  can  be  sown 
in  the  Spring  as  soon  as  the  frost  is  well 
out  of  the  ground,  and  afterwards  every 
three  weeks  until  the  1st  of  July,  when  the 
last  crop  should  be  put  in.  Sow  the  seed 
in  drills  a  foot  apart,  covering  with  about 
two  inches  of  earth;  when  three  inches  high 
thin  out  the  plants  to  three  or  four  inches 
apart.  Beets  are  only  fit  to  eat  when  they 
are  young,  sweet  and  juicy,  so  do  not  sow 
29 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

too  many  at  one  time.  Two  ounces  of  seed 
will  be  sufficient. 

Brussels  Sprouts.  Most  books  on  vege- 
tables tell  one  to  sow  the  seed  in  hot-beds 
or  cold-frames,  but  I  have  always  had  the 
seed  sown  thinly  in  drills  in  the  open 
ground  about  the  middle  of  May.  When 
well  up  the  plants  are  thinned  out  so  that 
they  stand  about  a  foot  apart,  in  rows 
eighteen  inches  apart.  They  require  no  par- 
ticular culture  beyond  being  well  hoed  once 
a  week. 

When  the  sprouts  begin  to  form,  the 
leaves  should  be  stripped  from  the  stalk, 
leaving  only  three  or  four  at  the  top;  the 
sprouts  are  ready  to  be  eaten  in  October. 
A  touch  of  frost  much  improves  them,  and 
by  the  end  of  October  the  crop  can  be  gath- 
ered and  stored  in  baskets  in  a  cool,  dry 
cellar,  where  they  will  keep  well.  I  think 
they  are  horrid  things  myself,  and  grow 
them  only  as  a  concession  to  a  certain  mem- 
ber of  the  family  who  adores  them  and 
30 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

whom  I  endeavor  in  sundry  ways  to  placate. 
After  stripping  off  the  outer  leaves  and 
washing  them  carefully,  place  enough  for 
eight  persons  in  a  double  hoiler  with  two 
tablespoonfuls  of  butter,  a  little  salt  and  a 
dash  of  pepper.  The  water  in  the  under 
boiler  must  be  kept  madly  boiling  for  three 
hours.  Thus  steamed,  not  boiled  in  the 
usual  way,  they  will  be  found  really  deli- 
cate. 

One  ounce  of  seed  will  raise  a  goodly 
quantity  of  plants. 

Carrots.  Two  crops  of  carrots  are  gen- 
erally sufficient;  these  can  be  sowed  about 
the  15th  of  May  and  again  the  1st  of  July. 
Sow  in  drills  a  foot  apart  and  when  the 
carrots  are  well  up  thin  them  out  to  three 
inches  apart.  Carrots  are  delicious  if  gath- 
ered when  about  the  size  of  your  little 
ringer  and  steamed  in  butter  until  tender. 

One  ounce  of  seed  is  quite  enough. 

Cauliflower.  There  is  certainly  great  sat- 
isfaction to  the  garden  lover  in  seeing  the 
31 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

beautiful  solid  white  cauliflower  heads  of 
her  own  raising,  surrounded  with  their  blue- 
green  leaves.  The  soil  must  be  rich  and  the 
plants  should  be  set  out  about  May  20th, 
although  for  an  early  crop  they  might  be 
set  out  the  last  of  April.  If  the  weather 
conies  off  dry  the  cauliflowers  will  suffer, 
as  they  require  water.  A  good  mulch  will 
help  them  by  keeping  the  soil  moist.  When 
the  heads  begin  to  form  draw  the  leaves 
together  and  tie  them  near  the  top  over  the 
cauliflower.  This  forms  a  protection  from 
the  sun  and  keeps  the  cauliflower  white. 

Two  packets  of  seed  should  raise  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  plants.  The  seed  for  an 
early  crop  should  be  sowed  in  March  in 
"boxes  in  the  house  or  in  hot-beds.  Seed  for 
a  late  crop  to  be  set  out  the  end  of  July 
may  be  sowed  early  in  May  in  a  small  bed 
in  the  garden.  The  seedlings  must  be 
watered  carefully  and  not  allowed  to  suffer 
from  drought. 

Celery.     Seed  for  celery  can  be  sown  in 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

the  open  ground  in  mid- April  in  a  small 
bed  where  the  soil  has  been  finely  pulverized 
and  made  rich;  they  should  only  be  covered 
with  a  quarter  of  an  inch  of  earth,  which 
must  be  well  pressed  down;  the  bed  must 
then  be  watered  daily  if  there  is  no  rain. 

When  the  little  plants  are  well  up,  thin 
them  out  to  about  three  inches  apart  and 
keep  them  free  from  weeds.  About  the 
15th  of  July  they  will  be  in  condition  to 
set  out.  Make  a  shallow  trench  six  inches 
deep  and  spade  some  old  manure  into  the 
earth  in  the  bottom  of  the  trench,  cover  this 
with  a  layer  of  garden  soil  and  then  set  the 
little  celery  plants  about  eight  inches  apart, 
being  careful  to  set  them  firmly.  They 
should  be  transplanted  about  sunset  and 
well  watered;  they  will  do  better  if  par- 
tially shaded  from  the  sun  for  a  few  days 
by  boards  or  branches  laid  over  the  trenches. 
The  trenches  should  be  three  feet  apart  for 
the  dwarf  and  medium  varieties  and  four  to 
five  feet  if  the  large  varieties  are  used. 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

As  the  plants  grow  the  earth  on  either  side 
of  them  should  be  carefully  hoed  against  the 
plants,  and  packed  around  them  with  the 
hand.  Care  must  be  taken  not  to  break  the 
stalks  and  not  to  let  the  earth  get  into  the 
center  of  the  celery. 

If  it  is  desirable  to  save  celery  for  Win- 
ter use,  this  can  be  done  in  two  ways. 
Early  in  November  dig  a  trench  in  the 
garden  somewhat  deeper  than  the  height  of 
the  plants.  In  this,  place  the  celery  close 
together;  then  fill  the  trench,  packing  the 
earth  closely,  letting  the  sides  of  the  banked- 
up  celery  slope  away  from  the  plants  so  that 
water  will  be  carried  off.  Cover  the  top 
with  a  thick  layer  of  litter,  straw  or  leaves, 
laying  boards  over  all.  In  this  way  the 
celery  will  blanch  and  keep  perfectly.  The 
other  method  of  storing  is  to  pack  the 
celery  in  dry  earth  in  barrels  or  boxes,  which 
should  be  kept  in  a  cool  cellar  that  does  not 
freeze. 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

One  ounce  of  seed  should  raise  at  least 
two  thousand  plants. 

Chicory  makes  so  delicious  a  salad  that  it 
is  well  worth  growing.  Sow  the  seed  the 
last  of  May  in  drills  about  eighteen  inches 
apart.  Thin  out  the  plants  to  six  inches 
and  the  first  week  in  August  draw  up  the 
leaves  and  bank  up  the  plants  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  celery.  In  this  way  they  will 
blanch  and  become  crisp  and  tender.  The 
Witloof  is  the  best  variety  and  one  packet 
of  seed  will  be  enough. 

Corn  Salad  is  one  of  the  earliest  vege- 
tables to  mature  in  the  Spring.  Sow  the 
seed  the  last  of  September,  and  the  middle 
of  November  cover  with  straw  or  leaves; 
uncover  very  early  in  the  Spring  and  by 
the  middle  of  April  the  tender  leaves  can 
be  gathered  for  salad.  Two  packets  of 
seed  will  be  sufficient. 

Sweet  Corn,  when  really  sweet  and  tender, 
is  one  of  the  most  delicious  of  the  many 
vegetables  that  Americans  are  blessed  with. 
35 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

Who,  on  returning  in  early  Autumn  from  a 
Summer  abroad,  does  not  welcome  it  upon 
the  daily  menu  with  delight! 

I  remember,  when  spending  a  Winter  in 
Berlin,  a  very  grand  luncheon  where  canned 
corn,  an  excellent  variety,  was  served  as  an 
entree,  and  how  nice  it  was!  The  hostess 
had  been  in  America  the  year  before  and 
learned  to  know  our  corn,  and  had  brought 
over  a  case  of  it.  It  was  really  funny  to 
see  how  the  high  born  dames  enjoyed  it 
and  to  hear  them  exclaim  "ausgezeichnet!" 

The  ground  for  corn  should  be  rich  and 
cultivated  deeply.  Hills  can  be  made  in 
rows  three  feet  apart  each  way.  Plant  four 
or  five  kernels  in  each  hill  and  hoe  the  earth 
against  the  growing  plants  once  every  week 
until  they  are  well  grown.  It  is  best  to 
have  three  plantings:  the  first  about  May 
10th,  the  second  the  first  week  in  June,  and 
the  last  about  the  third  week  in  June. 
White  Cory  for  the  first  crop,  Crosby  for 
the  second,  and  Evergreen  for  the  third, 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

are  as  satisfactory  as  any  of  the  varieties. 

One  pint  of  seed  for  each  planting  will 
raise  enough  corn  to  supply  a  good  sized 
family. 

Cucumbers  are  tender  plants  which  should 
not  be  sown  in  the  open  ground  until  May 
20th;  a  second  crop  can  be  sown  early  in 
July.  Make  hills  three  to  four  feet  apart 
each  way  and  dig  some  old  manure  and  a 
little  wood  ashes  into  the  earth  in  the  middle 
of  each  hill  and  plant  four  seeds  in  each. 

One-half  ounce  of  seed  will  plant  twenty- 
five  hills.  Cucumber  vines  are  apt  to  be 
infested  with  beetles,  for  which  Bordeaux 
Mixture  is  the  best  antidote.  In  small  gar- 
dens the  easiest  way  to  get  rid  of  the 
creatures  is  by  hand  picking. 

Egg  Plants  are  very  tender  and  the 
young  plants  must  be  started  in  the  house 
or  in  hot-beds  and  should  not  be  set  out  in 
the  garden  before  the  third  week  in  May. 
They  require  a  rich  soil  and  will  yield  bet- 
ter if  a  small  trowelful  of  nitrate  of  soda 
37 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

with  a  little  bone  meal  added  to  it  be  dug 
about  the  plants  toward  the  end  of  June. 

Two  packets  of  seeds  should  raise 
enough  plants.  Egg  Plants  are  somewhat 
difficult  to  raise  from  seed  and  the  beginner 
might  better  buy  them. 

Lettuce  for  very  early  crops  can  be  started 
in  the  hot-bed  or  in  boxes  in  sunny  win- 
dows of  the  tool-house,  and  sown  in  the 
garden  about  the  middle  of  April.  Or  it 
can  be  sowed  in  the  open  ground  as  soon 
as  it  is  in  condition  to  work.  Sow  the  seed 
very  sparsely  and  when  well  up  thin  out 
the  plants  to  from  six  to  eight  inches  apart. 

Lettuce  requires  a  rich  and  finely  pulver- 
ized soil.  Sowings  can  be  made  every  two 
or  three  weeks  until  the  middle  of  June,  but 
if  the  Summer  proves  hot  and  dry  it  is  well 
to  intermit  the  sowings  until  August,  when 
the  last  crop  can  be  put  in.  Of  the  many 
varieties  there  are  none  better  than  Boston 
Market  and  Tennis  Ball. 

One-half  ounce  of  seed  will  raise  more 
38 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

than  enough  lettuce  for  a  medium  sized 
family. 

Mushrooms.  Any  one  can  raise  mush- 
rooms who  has  a  cellar  under  an  out-build- 
ing. For  obvious  reasons  it  would  not  be 
agreeable  to  raise  them  under  a  house.  We 
have  raised  them  successfully;  a  bed  about 
six  feet  by  twelve  feet  giving  us  from  the 
first  crop,  from  a  pound  to  three  pounds 
daily  for  nearly  six  weeks.  The  bed  was 
then  watered,  a  little  fresh  earth  spread 
over  it  and  well  firmed  down,  and  in  three 
weeks  a  second  crop  appeared. 

There  are  no  better  directions  for  making 
a  mushroom  bed  than  those  given  by  Hen- 
derson and  by  Thorburn,  and  I  have  found 
their  spawn  excellent.  One  of  the  most  im- 
portant things  is  the  condition  of  the  manure. 
But  if  you  want  to  have  success,  it  is  abso- 
lutely essential  to  follow  the  directions  accu- 
rately. Few  people  are  patient  enough  to 
do  this,  but  will  insist  on  making  mushroom 
beds  with  various  modifications  of  their  own, 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

and,  in  consequence,  raise  no  mushrooms. 
They  even  say,  "It  is  all  a  matter  of  luck," 
or  "Raising  mushrooms  is  very  difficult," 
although  it  is  simply  a  matter  of  absolutely 
following  the  rules  which  experience  has 
proved  to  be  essential. 

Okra.  When  all  danger  from  frost  is 
over,  the  okra  can  be  sown,  and  if  the 
Summer  is  warm  there  will  generally  be  a 
fine  crop.  If  the  Summer  is  cold,  okra 
frequently  does  not  bear  in  the  North.  It 
should  be  gathered  about  a  week  after 
flowering.  Be  sure  that  the  pods  are  crisp 
and  snap  easily,  as  when  large  they  become 
woody  and  uneatable.  When  more  okra 
ripens  than  can  be  readily  used,  it  may  be 
cut  in  thin  slices  and  dried  for  Winter  use. 

A  friend  once  sent  me  from  Charleston 
a  great  basket  of  okra,  so  fresh  that  it 
seemed  impossible  for  it  to  have  been  two 
days  en  route.  With  it  she  sent  a  receipt 
for  gumbo  soup  that  her  colored  cook  had 
given  her.  I  give  the  receipt  and  am  sure 
40 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

that  once  tried  it  will  become  a  favorite 
dish.  It  will  readily  be  seen  that  gumbo 
soup  so  prepared  is  almost  a  meal  in  itself. 
The  soup  takes  four  hours  to  make.  Put 
into  a  kettle  two  pounds  of  lean  soup  beef, 
one-half  a  chicken  which  has  been  jointed,  a 
small  ham  bone,  or  a  good  sized  slice  of 
lean  bacon,  a  slice  of  green  pepper,  and  a 
square  inch  of  onion.  Add  three  quarts  of 
water  and  boil  or  simmer  gently,  skimming 
often  for  two  hours.  At  the  end  of  this 
time  add  a  quart  and  a  half  of  okra  which 
has  first  been  cut  in  slices  and  fried  lightly 
in  the  smallest  quantity  of  butter  possible, 
and  add  also  a  large  potato  cut  in  pieces, 
which  gradually  breaks  and  thickens  the 
soup.  An  hour  later,  after  frequent  skim- 
ming, add  a  full  quart  of  tomatoes  and  the 
corn  cut  from  two  large  ears,  and  also  the 
cobs,  and  continue  to  boil  gently  for  yet 
another  hour.  Then  remove  the  piece  of 
beef,  or  whatever  is  left  of  it,  and  also  the 
corn  cobs,  cut  the  meat  from  the  chicken 
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ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

bones,  returning  the  chicken  to  the  soup, 
add  ateaspoonful  of  sugar,  a  teaspoonful  of 
Worcestershire  sauce,  salt  and  cayenne  pep- 
per to  flavor,  and  the  soup  is  ready.  Some 
rice  boiled  very  dry  should  be  served  at  the 
same  time,  that  those  who  wish  may  add  a 
spoonful  of  it  to  their  soup.  I  have  been 
told  that  the  Creoles  generally  take  the 
gumbo  at  the  midday  dejeuner,  having  first 
some  fruit,  then  the  soup,  afterwards  a 
salad,  followed  by  cheese  and  coffee,  which 
is  certainly  an  ideal  meal  for  a  Summer's 
day. 

Sow  okra  seed  thinly  in  rows  eighteen 
inches  apart  and  two  inches  deep  and  thin 
the  plants  out  to  eight  inches  apart.  I  use 
the  White  Velvet  variety  and  find  that  a 
quarter  of  a  pound  of  seed  gives  an  ample 
number  of  plants. 

Onions.     No    garden    should    be    without 

onions.     Two    ounces    and    a   half    of    seed 

will  raise  quite  enough;    sow  them  in  drills 

a  foot    apart   about    the  middle    of   April; 

42 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

cover  the  seed  lightly  but  firmly  with  soil. 
The  young  plants  should  be  thinned  out 
to  three  inches  apart.  As  they  grow  the 
onions  will  appear  above  ground,  but  do  not 
cover  them,  as  this  is  their  habit  of  growth. 

Onions  require  a  rich,  heavy  soil;  indeed, 
the  large  crops  of  them  for  market  are 
raised  on  low  meadows  where  the  soil  is 
black  muck.  In  the  garden,  of  course,  you 
can  only  give  the  ground  plenty  of  ferti- 
lizer and  abundant  cultivation,  and  the  result 
is  generally  all  the  onions  you  wish  to  use. 
The  success  of  the  onion  crop  depends  upon 
its  being  kept  free  from  weeds.  When  ripe 
pull  them  up  and  let  them  dry  in  the  sun 
for  a  couple  of  days,  then  store  away  in 
boxes  in  the  cellar.  White  onions  of  me- 
dium size  are  the  most  desirable. 

Onions  may  also  be  grown  from  small 
bulbs  called  sets.  These  should  be  planted 
about  three  inches  apart  and  a  couple  of 
inches  deep,  in  rows  a  foot  apart.  If  planted 
as  soon  as  the  ground  can  be  worked  in  the 
43 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

Spring  they  will  be  ready  for  the  table  in 
about  four  weeks,  but  it  is  advisable  to  raise 
only  the  early  crop  from  sets  and  the  main 
crop  from  seeds. 

Parsley  should  be  sown  in  drills  very 
early  in  the  Spring,  and  will  be  large  enough 
to  use  in  six  weeks  from  the  time  of  sowing 
in  the  open  ground.  It  is  well  to  soak  the 
seeds  over  night  before  sowing,  as  they  are 
slow  to  germinate.  Thin  out  the  young 
plants  to  three  inches  apart.  Parsley  is  a 
perennial  and  if  covered  in  late  November 
with  some  litter  will  generally  survive  the 
Winter.  One  ounce  of  seed  is  quite  enough. 

Parsnips.  Sow  parsnip  seed  also  very 
early  in  the  Spring  in  rows  eighteen  inches 
apart  and  thin  out  the  plants  to  six  inches 
apart.  Late  in  the  Fall  the  parsnips  can 
be  packed  in  dry  earth  in  barrels  or  boxes 
and  stored  for  Winter  use.  Or  they  can  be 
buried  deeply  in  the  garden  and  dug  up  as 
wanted. 

Peas.  Every  one  likes  peas  and  every 
44 


S  se 

o  •£ 

If 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

one  wants  their  season  extended  as  late  as 
possible.  My  orders  to  the  gardener  are  to 
plant  a  new  crop  as  soon  as  the  first  is 
two  inches  above  the  ground  and  to  con- 
tinue doing  this  until  the  middle  of  June. 
The  first  two  and  the  last  crops  are  always 
the  largest  planted;  and,  as  the  late  ones 
art  apt  to  suffer  from  dry  weather,  a  last 
crop  can  be  planted  about  August  1st.  If 
the  weather  at  this  time  is  dry  it  will  be  well 
to  soak  the  seeds  for  twenty-four  hours 
before  sowing  and  when  they  are  up,  to 
mulch  them  two  or  three  inches.  The  first 
crop  should  be  planted  as  early  in  the  Spring 
as  the  ground  can  be  worked. 

For  years  I  grew  only  the  tall  varieties, 
but  they  required  so  much  labor  and  occu- 
pied so  much  room  that  in  recent  years  we 
have  grown  only  the  dwarf  peas.  Old- 
fashioned  gardeners  and  men  who  have  been 
trained  under  them  will  still  pin  their  faith 
to  the  tall-growing  peas,  and  I  know  some 
people  who  think  that  the  Champion  of 
45 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

England  is  the  only  kind  to  raise.  How- 
ever, the  Little  Gem  and  American  Wonder, 
both  dwarf,  are  sweet  and  juicy  and  pro- 
duce large  crops,  so  I  plant  them  every  year 
with  most  satisfactory  results. 

Four  quarts  of  pea  seed  will  raise  an 
ample  quantity  for  a  medium  sized  family. 

There  is  such  a  difference  between  the 
French  and  American  ways  of  cooking  peas 
that  if  they  have  been  once  eaten  as  the 
French  cook  them,  the  American  boiled  peas 
will  never  again  be  seen  on  the  table. 

One  Summer  we  spent  several  weeks  at  a 
delightful  inn  on  the  Normandy  coast,  kept 
by  the  nicest  Frenchman  and  his  wife,  who 
could  not  do  enough  to  please  us.  When 
they  noticed  that  I  did  not  care  for 
"haricot  vert"  (and  who  ever  returns  from  a 
Summer  on  the  Continent  without  register- 
ing a  vow  never  to  look  another  string  bean 
in  the  face?)  there  were  generally  some 
peas  prepared  for  me;  upon  request  the 
Frenchman  told  me  how  to  cook  them,  and 
46 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

I  give  the  receipt,  as  it  does  not  seem  to  be 
generally  known. 

Place  enough  peas  for  eight  persons  in  a 
double  boiler,  add  two  tablespoonfuls  of 
butter,  six  leaves  of  lettuce,  and  three  tiny 
onions  as  big  as  the  top  of  one's  finger. 
Keep  the  water  boiling  under  them  for 
three  hours,  when  they  are  ready  to  serve. 
The  butter  and  lettuce  add  to  the  juice, 
and  the  baby  onion  gives  such  a  soup9on 
of  flavor  that  one  scarcely  knows  it  to  be 
onion. 

Peppers.  The  seed  for  peppers  may  be 
sown  in  the  hot-bed,  but  I  have  it  sown 
directly  in  the  garden  about  May  10th;  two 
packets  of  seed  will  raise  quite  enough 
plants.  The  soil  should  be  rich  and  finely 
pulverized.  Sow  the  seeds  thinly  and  when 
the  young  plants  are  well  up  thin  them  out 
to  eighteen  inches  apart.  Peppers  are  apt 
to  be  killed  by  the  first  frost,  so  it  is  well 
when  frost  is  expected  to  have  all  that  re- 
main on  the  plants  gathered  at  once.  If 
47 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

stored  in  a  cool,  dark  place,  they  will  keep 
a  long  time. 

Radishes  are  most  acceptable  in  early 
Spring,  and  if  they  are  to  be  raised  in  the 
garden,  should  be  sown  as  soon  as  the  frost 
leaves  the  ground;  the  rows  should  be  about 
a  foot  apart  and  the  plants  about  two  inches 
apart  in  the  rows.  The  small  dark  red 
variety  is  the  best.  One  ounce  of  seed  is 
sufficient,  and  sowings  can  follow  each 
other  about  every  three  weeks. 

Rhubarb.  Every  garden  should  have  at 
least  a  few  plants  of  rhubarb.  A  dozen 
roots  can  be  bought  for  about  a  dollar  and 
a  half,  and  will  last  a  lifetime.  They  should 
be  planted  in  a  corner  where  they  will  be 
undisturbed,  and  require  little  or  no  culture 
beyond  keeping  them  free  from  weeds.  Cut 
off  the  leaves  in  late  Autumn  and  throw 
some  litter  over  the  plants,  and  fork  some 
manure  into  the  ground  in  early  Spring. 

When  the  rhubarb  starts  in  the  Spring, 
if  barrels  without  heads  are  placed  over  the 
48 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

plants  to  exclude  the  light,  they  will  grow 
up  tall  and  white  and  he  crisp  and  tender, 
quite  another  thing  from  the  stalks  of  the 
uncovered  plant.  It  is  generally  enough  to 
cover  four  plants  to  begin  with,  and  then  as 
soon  as  one  plant  has  been  cut,  to  move  the 
barrel  to  another  plant,  and  so  on. 

Salsify.  Sow  salsify  or  vegetable  oyster 
as  early  as  the  ground  can  be  worked  and 
treat  it  in  every  way  like  the  parsnip. 

Spinach.  Seed  for  early  Spring  spinach 
should  be  sowed  in  October,  well  covered 
with  leaves  or  coarse  litter  at  the  end  of 
November  and  uncovered  at  the  end  of 
March.  By  the  20th  of  April  it  should  be 
ready  to  gather.  Spinach  treated  in  this 
manner  has  always  survived  the  Winter,  ex- 
cept the  last  terrible  one.  If  it  is  not 
thought  desirable  to  run  the  risk  of  Autumn 
sowing,  then  sow  the  seed  the  moment  the 
frost  is  out  of  the  ground  in  the  Spring, 
and  the  crop  will  be  ready  by  the  middle 
of  May.  Spinach  for  a  Fall  crop  should 
49 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

be    sown    about    August    10th.     Sow    two 
ounces  of  seed  in  drills  afoot  apart. 

Squash  is  a  tender  plant  and  the  seeds 
should  be  planted  at  the  same  time  and  in 
the  same  manner  as  cucumbers;  one  ounce 
of  seed  will  be  enough  for  about  twenty 
hills,  which  is  ample  for  a  medium  sized 
family.  Keep  a  sharp  lookout  for  beetles; 
a  few  minutes  hand  picking  in  the  morning 
will  keep  the  vines  of  squash,  cucumbers, 
and  melons  free  from  these  creatures.  The 
vines  may  also  be  sprayed  with  Bordeaux 
mixture  or  with  Paris  green.  Mix  enough 
water  with  one-fourth  pound  of  Paris  green 
to  make  a  paste;  add  thirty-seven  quarts  of 
water,  and  use  this  as  a  spray. 

An  important  thing  to  remember  is  the 
fact,  that  the  busy  bees  will  mix  the  pollen 
of  cucumber,  squash,  and  melon,  therefore 
plant  them  as  widely  separated  as  possible. 
Canteloupes  that  taste  of  squash  or  cucum- 
ber have  generally  been  impregnated  with 
the  pollen  of  these  plants. 
50 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

Tomato  plants  must  be  raised  in  a  hot- 
bed or  in  shallow  boxes  in  the  house,  and 
should  not  be  put  out  until  the  end  of  May. 
Set  the  plants  in  rows  three  feet  apart  each 
way.  There  are  many  ways  of  training 
tomatoes.  Tying  them  up  to  a  heavy  stake 
set  firmly  in  the  ground  is  quite  satisfactory. 
The  branches  must  be  kept  off  the  ground 
and  some  of  the  lower  ones  should  be  cut 
off  if  the  plants  become  very  large.  To- 
matoes, like  the  peppers,  are  ruined  by  frost, 
but  even  the  green  ones  can  be  ripened  by 
placing  them  on  shelves  in  the  tool  room  or 
in  an  outbuilding  with  sunny  windows. 

Turnips.  One  generally  thinks  of  turnips 
as  being  food  only  for  cattle,  but  a  few 
white  ones  for  Winter  use  should  be  in 
every  garden.  One  ounce  of  seed  will  raise 
all  that  can  be  used.  Sow  in  mid-July  in 
drills  eighteen  inches  apart  and  thin  out  the 
plants  to  four  inches  apart.  They  can  be 
stored  like  the  salsify  and  parsnips. 

If  cooked  in  the  following  way  they  are 
51 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

not  to  be  sniffed  at.  Boil  enough  for  eight 
persons  until  quite  soft;  drain  and  rub  them 
through  a  wire  sieve;  return  to  the  sauce- 
pan, add  a  tablespoonful  of  butter,  three  of 
cream  or  of  rich  stock,  pepper  and  salt  to 
taste;  cook  for  five  minutes,  stir  continu- 
ally so  the  mixture  does  not  burn,  and  it  is 
ready  to  serve. 

Herbs.  In  every  vegetable  garden  there 
should  be  a  corner  devoted  to  herbs,  and  a 
couple  of  packets  of  the  seeds  of  each 
variety  will  raise  enough  plants.  Being  per- 
ennials, they  need  only  to  be  kept  free  from 
weeds,  to  be  covered  with  litter  late  in  the 
Fall,  and  in  earliest  Spring  to  have  some 
manure  forked  into  the  ground  around 
them. 

Sow  the  seeds  thinly  in  good  rich  earth, 
and  thin  out  the  plants  to  about  eight  inches 
apart.  Lavender,  thyme,  savory,  and  sage 
are  the  herbs  of  most  ordinary  use.  Chives 
(or  cives),  though  belonging  to  the  onion 
family,  may  be  grown  with  the  herbs;  they 


Arbor  Vitae  Pyramidaliit 
August  tenth 


THE   VEGETABLE   GARDEN 

are  perennials,  and  the  leaves  only  are  used 
for  flavoring  after  being  finely  chopped. 

Who  does  not  love  the  faint  odor  of  lav- 
ender on  the  cool  bed  linen,  and  have  not 
many  of  us  some  childhood  recollection  of 
sage?  My  nurse,  I  now  believe,  thought  it 
a  perfect  panacea.  If  we  tumbled  in  the 
brook  or  ate  green  apples,  a  cup  of  hot 
sage  tea  was  administered.  She  kept  a 
bottle  of  strong,  black  sage  tea  in  which 
was  a  large  rusty  nail,  and  would  rub  my 
hair  twice  a  week  with  this  concoction,  say- 
ing that  when  I  was  a  lady  "  'twould  be 
the  grand  hair  you  will  have."  There  was 
strenuous  objection  twice  a  week,  but  she 
always  won  in  the  end. 

All  the  seeds  (excepting  potatoes)  re- 
quired for  a  vegetable  garden  large  enough 
to  supply  a  family  of  eight  to  ten  persons, 
can  be  bought  for  about  $10  to  $12.  Rhu- 
barb and  asparagus  plants,  if  bought,  will 
add  to  the  expense,  likewise  to  buy  the 
tomato,  celery,  cauliflower,  and  egg  plants 
53 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

will  cost  somewhat  more.  But  what  family 
of  eight  or  ten  persons  would  not  spend  in 
six  months  a  far  larger  sum  in  buying  vege- 
tables than  the  combined  cost  of  seeds,  fer- 
tilizers, and  the  occasional  man  by  the  day 
required  for  the  garden? 

I  have  endeavored  to  make  this  chapter 
on  vegetables  as  brief  and  as  simple  as  pos- 
sible, to  show  those  who  have  room  only  for 
a  small  garden,  which  they  will  probably 
care  for  mostly  themselves,  how  easy  of 
culture  as  well  as  remunerative  the  vegetable 
garden  really  is.  This  chapter  is  not  meant 
for  people  with  large  gardens  who  employ 
several  gardeners,  but  for  those  with  small 
places  who  want  to  make  a  beginning,  or 
who,  employing  perhaps  one  useful  man  to 
do  most  of  the  work,  find  pleasure  in  per- 
sonally tending  their  own  gardens  to  at 
least  some  extent. 


FRUITS 


CHAPTER   III 

FRUITS 

T  \  THEN  the  fruit  trees  blossom  in  late 
»  ^  April  and  early  May,  the  whole 
country  where  we  live  becomes,  from  the 
many  orchards  on  all  sides,  one  great  gar- 
den. The  exquisite  pink-tinged  apple  blos- 
soms, the  pale  pink  blooms  of  the  peach, 
the  masses  of  delicate  color  set  in  the  tender 
green  of  budding  leaves  and  fresh  grass,  all 
breathing  the  fragrance  of  the  Spring,  make 
the  scene  one  of  beauty  indescribable.  We 
can  understand  and  sympathize  with  the 
Japanese  in  their  love  of  the  cherry,  peach, 
and  plum  blossoms,  and  envy  them  the  life 
that  makes  it  possible  to  lay  work  aside  for 
a  time  every  day  and  flock  to  the  gardens, 
where  the  cult  of  the  fruit  tree  and  the 
Wistaria,  of  Pasonies,  Lilies,  and  Chrys- 
57 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

anthemums  have  been  brought  to  perfection, 
and  where  they  may  steep  their  senses  in 
this  beauty  daily,  from  the  time  the  early 
cherry  blossoms  come  until  the  petals  of 
the  last  Chrysanthemum  have  been  borne 
away  by  the  winds.  But  how  few  dwellers 
in  our  cities  give  thought  to  the  wonderful 
beauty  to  be  seen,  just  a  little  way  out  in 
the  country,  when  the  blossoms  come  in 
Spring!  And  even  were  time  available,  how 
few  among  the  multitude  would  leave  the 
asphalt  for  a  day  merely  to  gaze  upon  the 
fairy-like  scene!  To  them,  living  is  such 
a  tread-mill  of  obligation  and  toil  and  work, 
that  many  go  through  life  with  unseeing 
eyes  for  the  great  beauties  of  Nature. 
From  the  days  when  the  stern  Pilgrims,  hoe 
in  hand  and  musket  slung  over  the  shoulder, 
wrested  a  scanty  living  from  the  wilderness, 
until  to-day,  when  millionaires  travel  be- 
tween their  country  places  and  Wall  Street 
by  automobile,  swift  yacht,  or  special  train, 
reading  the  last  edition  of  the  newspaper  en 
58 


FRUITS 

route,  we  hare  been  so  occupied  in  the  pur- 
suit of  the  practical,  that  as  a  people  we 
have  neglected  the  cultivation  of  the  sense 
and  lore  of  beauty.  That  the  whole  popu- 
lation of  a  city  should  flock  to  gardens  of 
cherry  blooms,  or  have  feasts  at  Wistaria 
time,  is  something  we  might  possibly  dream 
of,  yet  cannot  comprehend.  But  success 
and  consequent  ease  of  life,  with  an  ever- 
increasing  class  of  nature  lovers,  and  of 
those  who  appreciate  the  beauty  of  simplic- 
ity, are  gradually  leavening  the  multitude; 
and  possibly  within  a  few  generations,  our 
people  may  have  the  same  love  for  beauty 
in  form  and  color,  in  sunlight  and  shadow, 
in  the  bird  on  the  wing,  in  the  dwarf  tree  as 
well  as  the  great  pine,  in  the  bud  and  seed 
pod,  as  well  as  in  the  perfect  bloom,  which 
now  the  Japanese  possess  in  such  perfection. 
Fruit  trees  are  lovely  not  only  when 
masses  of  bloom.  Can  anything  be  more 
beautiful  than  a  fine  apple  tree  laden  with 
fruit,  or  a  cherry  tree  when  every  twig  is 
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ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

bending  with  the  weight  of  glossy,  red 
cherries,  or  a  peach  tree  covered  with 
peaches  that  make  one's  mouth  water  to 
look  upon?  Is  there  anything  more  orna- 
mental than  a  crab  apple  tree  with  its 
brilliantly  colored  fruit;  or  a  vine  heavy 
with  clusters  of  purple  and  red  grapes;  or 
currant  bushes  with  their  scarlet,  gem-like 
berries? 

The  demand  for  good  fruit  has  never 
been  met  with  a  sufficient  supply,  and  there 
is  always  a  ready  market  for  any  fine  fruit 
raised  beyond  the  requirements  of  home 
consumption. 

I  have  always  believed  that  a  woman, 
thrown  upon  her  own  resources,  could  make 
a  good  living  from  a  few  acres  of  land,  by 
the  culture  of  asparagus,  for  which  there 
is  always  a  demand  exceeding  the  supply, 
and  of  small  fruits.  If  she  had  also  a 
cellar  where  mushrooms  could  be  raised,  and 
would  cultivate  them,  first  in  a  small  way, 
until  she  had  gained  the  necessary  knowl- 
60 


±?  s 


I 


FRUITS 

edge  and  experience  for  their  extensive 
culture,  she  would  make  a  gratifying  addi- 
tion to  her  income. 

In  this  chapter,  I  would  speak  of  fruits 
only  for  the  small  home  garden,  their  larger 
cultivation  in  orchards  being  a  subject  by 
itself. 

Fruits  should  never  be  grown  on  low,  wet 
ground  where  water  stands  in  Spring  or 
Fall;  in  fact,  they  would  quickly  die  in  such 
a  situation.  The  same  soil  and  location 
that  make  a  successful  garden  will  also  grow 
fruits  successfully.  Fruit  trees  will  do  bet- 
ter the  first  year  on  land  that  has  been 
cultivated  the  previous  season,  but  when 
they  are  to  be  planted  in  sod,  the  ground 
should  first  be  plowed  deeply,  all  stones 
removed  and  then  well  fertilized. 

The  tall  or  standard  orchard  tree  is  al- 
ways the  best  to  plant.  The  dwarf  trees 
are  all  well  enough  where  space  is  limited, 
but  one  fine  tree  of  the  standard  varieties 
is  better  than  six  of  the  dwarf. 
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ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

Nearly  all  fruit  trees  may  be  planted  in 
the  Fall,  but  it  is  better  to  set  them  out  in 
the  Spring  as  soon  as  the  ground  can  be 
worked.  Three-year-old  trees  are  the  best 
to  plant,  and  the  same  care  must  be  taken 
in  planting  fruit  trees  as  with  all  other 
trees;  the  hole  must  be  larger  than  the 
roots,  all  broken  and  injured  roots  should 
be  cut  off  and  the  earth  well  packed  down 
and  made  firm  around  them.  After  plant- 
ing, all  trees,  bushes  and  grape-vines  should 
be  given  a  mulch  about  three  or  four 
inches  deep  of  leaves,  litter  or  old  manure 
extending  out  for  a  foot  beyond  the  space 
occupied  by  the  roots.  This  keeps  them 
moist  and  assists  the  tree  in  making  new 
growth. 

Apples.  In  gardens,  apple  trees  may  be 
planted  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  feet 
apart;  in  orchards  they  are  usually  set 
forty  or  more  feet  apart.  The  young  trees 
must  be  well  pruned  when  planted  and  from 
62 


FRUITS 

one-quarter  to  one-half  of  the  length  of 
each  branch  cut  off.  Pruning  is  a  matter 
of  great  importance  to  fruit  growers,  as  all 
fruit  trees  must  be  pruned  yearly,  and  the 
novice  will  find  some  good  book  on  the  sub- 
ject, of  which  there  are  several,  to  be  of 
great  help. 

The  ground  under  apple  trees  should 
be  kept  free  from  weeds  and  grass,  and 
the  soil  loose,  until  the  tree  is  five  or  six 
years  old.  A  mulch  of  litter  or  leaves  over 
this  space  during  the  Winter,  will  be  of 
benefit,  and  a  good  coating  of  manure  with 
two  or  three  pounds  of  muriate  of  potash, 
stirred  into  the  ground  around  each  tree 
in  the  Spring,  will  stimulate  its  growth.  An 
apple  tree  generally  begins  to  bear  when 
five  years  old,  and  should  have  a  full  crop  at 
ten  years.  It  is  a  long-lived  tree,  and  who- 
ever plants  one  may  reasonably  expect  it  to 
live  and  bear  fruit  not  only  during  his  own 
lifetime,  but  that  of  his  children,  and  pos- 
sibly his  grandchildren. 
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ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

The  care  of  a  few  apple  trees  is  not 
great,  but  they  must  be  attended  to  regularly 
and  carefully,  if  fine  fruit  or  good  crops 
are  to  be  expected.  If  the  codlin  moth  or 
the  apple  worm,  which  eat  the  foliage,  should 
attack  a  tree,  they  can  be  destroyed  by 
spraying  with  Paris  green  when  the  blossoms 
have  fallen.  To  prevent  fungus  and  the 
various  microbe  diseases,  the  trees  should  be 
sprayed  with  Bordeaux  mixture,  first  in 
March,  again  when  the  blossoms  have  fallen, 
and  sometimes  still  again  when  the  fruit  has 
formed,  and  the  little  apples  turn  down  on 
the  stem.  Every  year,  in  March,  all  fruit 
trees  must  be  "grubbed,"  as  the  farmer  calls 
it,  which  consists  in  digging  about  the  base 
of  the  tree  from  one  to  three  inches  under- 
ground, and  taking  out  the  worm  and  its 
larvae,  which  will  be  discovered  by  the  bur- 
rows the  creatures  have  made  into  the  wood. 
They  are  removed  by  running  a  piece  of 
wire  into  the  small  holes  made  by  the  borers 
or  cutting  them  out  with  a  sharp  knife. 
64 


FRUITS 

A  friend  told  me  recently,  that  this  year 
he  had  gathered  from  one  Baldwin  apple 
tree  that  had  never  received  any  care  be- 
beyond  ordinary  pruning  and  spraying,  thir- 
teen barrels  of  fine  apples,  which  were  sold 
to  the  wholesale  dealer  for  $1.50  per  barrel. 

Each  one  may  have  his  preference  in  the 
matter  of  varieties,  but  six  satisfactory 
apples  are:  Baldwin,  Northern  Spy,  Rhode 
Island  Greening,  King,  Seek-no-Further, 
and  the  Sutton  Beauty  or  the  Russet. 

Cherries.  The  sweet  cherry  is  another 
long-lived  fruit  tree.  It  has  a  fine  form, 
retains  its  foliage  until  late  in  the  Autumn, 
like  the  apple  tree,  and  is  beautiful  alike 
when  in  blossom,  in  bearing  time  and 
throughout  the  year.  The  two  types  of 
cherries  are  the  sweet  and  the  sour.  The 
sweet  cherry  becomes  in  time  a  large  tree, 
while  the  sour  remains  small  and  low- 
growing. 

Cherry  trees  will  thrive  and  do  well  on 
clayey  soil  when  mixed  with  a  little  loam, 
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ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

and  will  succeed  better  in  dry  seasons  than 
other  fruit  trees.  Like  the  apple,  they 
should  be  three  years  old  when  planted  and 
be  set  twenty-five  feet  apart.  The  trees 
should  be  sprayed  with  Bordeaux  mixture 
when  the  blossoms  have  fallen,  and  again 
when  the  fruit  is  well  formed.  If  aphids 
appear  on  the  new  shoots,  they  can  be  de- 
stroyed by  spraying  with  tobacco  water, 
which  is  made  by  steeping  tobacco  stems  in 
a  pail  of  water  until  it  has  become  dark 
brown  in  color;  if  the  curculio,  the  enemy 
also  of  the  plum  tree,  appears,  a  sheet 
should  be  spread  upon  the  ground  under 
the  tree,  which  should  then  be  well  jarred. 
This  will  bring  down  not  only  the  affected 
fruit,  but  also  the  curculios;  the  insects  and 
the  bad  fruit  should  be  burned.  This  oper- 
ation will  take  but  a  few  minutes,  and  after 
the  blossoms  fall,  should  be  repeated  every 
day  for  a  couple  of  weeks.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  all  fruit  which  is  to  be 
kept  for  a  few  days,  or  sent  to  any  distance, 


FRUITS 

should  be  gathered  when  perfectly  dry, 
otherwise  rot  may  set  in. 

Six  satisfactory  varieties  of  cherry  are: 
Black  Tartarian  and  Black  Eagle,  both  late 
Cherries;  Governor  Wood  and  Downer's 
Late,  red;  and  Napoleon  and  Yellow  Span- 
ish, pale  yellow,  or  "White  Cherries,"  as 
they  are  usually  called. 

I  well  remember  a  tree  in  my  father's 
garden  called  the  "White  Ox-Heart  Cherry 
tree."  It  was  easy  to  climb  and  had  a  com- 
fortable crotch  well  up  among  the  branches 
where  one  could  sit  at  ease,  and  many  a 
happy  hour  have  I  spent  in  that  tree  with 
the  crown  of  my  hat  filled  with  fruit  to  eat, 
and  "Little  Women"  or  "The  Wide,  Wide 
World"  to  read. 

Crab  apples  are  used  mainly  for  making 
jellies  and  preserves,  but  the  tree  is  beauti- 
ful either  in  blossom  or  when  covered  with 
fruit,  and  it  is  worth  while  to  have  one  tree 
in  your  garden  if  there  is  room.  It  should 
be  three  years  old  when  set  out,  and  culti- 
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ANOTHER    HARDY   GARDEN    BOOK 

vated  in  the  same  manner  as  the  cherry. 
Three  excellent  varieties  are  Dartmouth, 
Large  Red  Siberian,  and  Hall's  Imperial. 

Pears.  The  garden  should  contain  at  least 
six  pear  trees.  If  well  cared  for,  they  will 
bear  fruit  during  a  long  lifetime.  The  early 
kinds  ripen  in  August  and  the  late  varieties 
will  keep  well  into  the  winter,  so  that  pears 
can  be  had  from  your  own  garden  for 
quite  half  the  year. 

Not  long  ago  a  lady  showed  me  in  her 
garden  a  pear  tree  thirteen  years  old,  of  the 
Kieff er  variety,  that  had  never  received  any 
particular  care  or  attention  beyond  pruning; 
yet  it  had  always  borne  abundantly,  and 
this  year  yielded  ten  bushels  of  fine  fruit. 

Pear  trees  will  thrive  on  clayey  soil  and 
require  but  little  fertilizer.  Stable  manures, 
nitrates  and  bone  meal,  all  of  which  are 
valuable  for  other  fruits,  tend  to  produce 
pear  blight,  which  declares  itself  by  the 
blackened  condition  of  the  leaves.  The  only 
cure  for  this  pear  blight  is  in  the  removal 
68 


Cedar  tree  transplanted  from  the  woods 
September  twentieth 


FRUITS 

of  the  affected  branch  at  once  when  the 
trouble  appears.  Branches  should  always  be 
sawed  from  a  tree,  never  chopped,  and  the 
surface  where  the  limb  has  been  sawed  off 
should  be  given,  immediately,  a  coat  of  thick 
paint.  A  little  wood  ashes  and  some  super- 
phosphate of  lime  may  be  dug  into  the 
ground  around  pear  trees  in  the  Spring, 
and  will  give  sufficient  stimulus.  Whenever 
wood  ashes  are  used,  do  not  let  them  come 
in  contact  with  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  lest 
they  burn  the  wood. 

There  are  two  varieties  of  pears,  standard 
and  dwarf.  The  former  should  be  planted 
twenty  feet  apart;  the  dwarf  varieties  ten 
feet.  Dwarf  pears  are  generally  grafted 
on  quince  roots,  and,  like  all  grafted  stock, 
should  be  planted  deeply,  the  graft  being 
set  quite  four  inches  below  the  top  of  the 
ground.  The  trees  should  be  examined  care- 
fully in  the  Spring  for  borers,  and  the  soil 
over  the  roots  kept  loose  and  free  from 
weeds  and  grass. 

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ANOTHER    HARDY    GARDEN    BOOK 

The  following  are  excellent  varieties  of 
Pears:  Wilder  Early  and  Manning's  Eliza- 
beth, which  ripen  in  August;  Bartlett  and 
Flemish  Beauty,  in  September;  Duchesse 
d'Angouleme,  Louise  Bonne  of  Jersey,  and 
Seckel,  in  October;  Anjou,  Easter  Beurre, 
and  Josephine  of  Malines,  very  late  varie- 
ties. The  last  three  should  be  gathered  in 
October,  and  will  keep  in  a  cool,  dry  place 
until  January  or  February. 

Peaches  to  do  well  in  orchards  should  be 
on  high  ground;  they  seem  to  prefer  a  hill- 
side. When  grown  in  a  protected  situation, 
the  buds  swell  early  in  the  spring  and  are 
often  destroyed  by  late  frosts.  Peach  trees 
will  not  be  hurt  by  a  low  temperature  in 
Winter  unless  the  weather  is  also  damp  or 
foggy,  but  late  Spring  frosts  are  certain  to 
do  them  great  damage.  In  a  garden  they 
should,  if  possible,  be  planted  where  they 
will  be  sheltered  from  the  west  and  south 
by  buildings,  evergreens  or  hedges,  that  they 
may  not  start  too  early  in  the  Spring. 
70 


FRUITS 

The  peach  is  not  a  long-lived  tree  and  has 
several  serious  enemies.  The  first  of  these 
is  San  Jose  scale,  which,  being  contagious, 
should  be  preventable,  if  the  owner  upon 
discovering  it  would  promptly  take  up  the 
tree  or  plant  and  burn  it,  root  and  branch, 
and  then  at  once  spray  the  remaining  trees 
with  the  lime,  salt  and  sulphur  spray  recom- 
mended by  the  United  States  Agricultural 
Department  and  generally  used  by  fruit 
growers.  This  disease  should  be  treated  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  Board  of  Health 
proceeds  in  cases  of  contagion,  the  spraying 
corresponding  to  the  fumigation  of  a  dwell- 
ing. Yellows  is  another  contagious  disease, 
which  is  recognized  by  the  ripening  of  the 
fruit  long  before  its  due  time,  by  the  red 
spots  on  the  peaches  extending  from  the 
skin  well  into  the  fruit,  and  also  by  the 
tufts  of  yellowish  leaves  which  form  upon 
the  branches.  Trees  so  affected  should  be 
burned  at  once.  Curculio  also  attacks  the 
peach,  and  can  be  destroyed  by  jarring  the 
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ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

tree  and  burning  the  insects  and  infected 
fruit  in  the  same  manner  as  described  for 
the  treatment  of  cherry  trees.  The  borers, 
or  grubs,  must  also  be  dug  or  cut  out  from 
the  trunk  of  the  tree  just  below  the  ground 
every  Spring  and  Fall. 

Peach  trees  are  usually  sent  out  from  the 
nurseries  when  one  year  old,  and  should  be 
cut  back  when  planted  so  that  they  look  like 
little  switches.  But  their  growth  is  rapid 
and  in  four  years  they  will  bear  a  crop. 

In  a  garden,  the  trees  may  be  set  from 
twelve  to  sixteen  feet  apart.  Generally  after 
eight  or  ten  years,  and  sometimes  sooner,  the 
old  trees  are  uprooted  and  new  ones  planted 
in  other  ground.  There  are  instances  of 
older  orchards  or  of  older  single  trees  in 
gardens,  but  these  are  rare.  A  late  Spring 
frost,  dry  weather  after  the  fruit  has 
formed  and  many  other  causes  may  prevent 
the  trees  from  bearing,  and  they  rarely  bear 
on  succeeding  years.  Of  all  the  fruits  in 
the  garden,  you  must  count  least  upon  the 
72 


FRUITS 

peaches,  they  are  so  shy  and  uncertain. 
But  when  they  do  bear,  the  fruit  is  delicious 
and  you  are  well  rewarded  for  all  the  prun- 
ing and  cultivation  and  care. 

Every  year  in  March,  the  trees  must  be 
pruned  and  sprayed  with  the  Bordeaux,  and 
again  sprayed  after  the  blossoms  have  fallen, 
and  a  third  time  after  the  young  fruit  has 
formed  if  there  are  any  signs  of  fungus 
diseases. 

Wood  ashes  and  muriate  of  potash  are 
considered  by  many  to  be  the  best  fer- 
tilizers for  peach  trees.  Barnyard  manure 
and  bone  meal  are  also  excellent.  The  fer- 
tilizers should  be  dug  into  the  ground  around 
the  trees  early  in  the  Spring.  If  muriate  of 
potash  is  used,  from  two  to  three  pounds 
for  a  full-grown  tree  is  the  usual  quantity. 
The  advantage  of  potash  over  other  fertil- 
izers is  in  the  color  it  imparts  to  the  fruit. 
The  same  quantity  of  bone  meal  or  wood 
ashes  could  be  used,  if  preferred.  Half  the 
quantity  of  fertilizer  used  for  grown  trees 
73 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

is  sufficient  for  those  not  yet  come  into  bear- 
ing. 

Mountain  Rose,  Old  Mixon  Free,  Craw- 
ford's Early,  Alexander,  Lord  Palmerston, 
Crawford's  Late,  and  Iron  Mountain  are 
all  excellent  varieties.  All  these  are  strong 
growers  and  respond  readily  to  cultivation. 
One  or  two  trees  of  each  variety  would  give 
a  family  plenty  of  good  fruit  from  about 
August  20th  to  October  1st. 

But  every  one  has  a  preference  in  the 
varieties  of  peach,  and  some  varieties  do 
better  in  one  locality  or  soil  than  in  another. 

Plum  trees  are  exquisite  when  in  blossom 
and  beautiful  when  bearing  fruit,  but  the 
trees  are  small  and  cannot  be  counted 
upon  for  shade.  They  are  subject  to  the 
curculio,  which  can  be  destroyed  by  the 
method  described  before,  and  also  to  black 
knot,  which  is  cured  by  carefully  looking  the 
trees  over  and  cutting  out  every  particle  of 
black  knot  and  burning  it  immediately. 
Plum  trees  should  also  be  sprayed  with 
74 


FRUITS 

Bordeaux  mixture  at  the  same  time  with 
the  other  fruit  trees,  and  the  earth  over  the 
roots  must  be  kept  loose  and  free  from 
weeds. 

There  is  no  better  place  to  plant  plum 
trees  than  in  a  hen-yard,  if  you  have 
one,  where  the  conditions  seem  to  be  par- 
ticularly favorable  to  them.  The  trees 
should  be  three  years  old  when  set  out, 
and  may  be  planted  ten  feet  apart.  They 
will  begin  to  bear  in  two  years,  and  will 
thrive  in  almost  any  soil,  clay,  gravel,  or 
loam.  The  following  varieties  of  plums  will 
be  found  satisfactory:  Reine  Claude,  green- 
ish in  color;  Abundance  and  Coe's  Golden 
Drop,  yellow;  Quackenboss  and  Red  June, 
purple. 

Quince  is  another  fruit  used  mostly  for 
preserves.  The  trees  are  dwarf  and  less 
ornamental  than  others.  They  should  be  set 
out  in  the  Spring,  the  ground  well  mulched 
and  borers  carefully  exterminated.  The 
trees  must  be  trimmed  and  sprayed  with  the 
75 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

other  fruit  trees,  and  some  nitrate  of  soda 
and  bone  meal  dug  about  them  in  the 
Spring.  The  best  varieties  are  Rea's  Mam- 
moth, and  Apple. 

The  few  fruit  trees  grown  in  a  garden 
are  more  likely  to  be  free  from  disease  than 
where  they  are  grown  by  thousands  in  great 
orchards.  Careful  cultivation,  with  preven- 
tion by  spraying  and  cutting,  and  a  sharp 
lookout  for  borers  and  insects,  will  reward 
the  gardener  with  beautiful  trees  and  excel- 
lent crops  of  fruit  to  delight  family  and 
friends.  A  man  can  easily  spray  all  the 
trees  in  a  home  garden  in  a  forenoon,  and 
the  other  necessary  work  in  caring  for  them 
takes  but  a  short  time.  I  have  often  thought 
that  if  we  had  room  for  but  six  trees,  one 
of  them  would  be  an  apple  tree,  one  a  red 
cherry,  and  the  others  would  be  a  locust, 
a  catalpa,  a  white  pine,  and  a  hemlock 
spruce.  The  four  deciduous  trees  would 
give  us  blossoms  in  May  and  June,  with 
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FRUITS 

cool  shade  throughout  the  Summer;  then 
there  would  be  cherries  in  June  and  apples 
in  October,  and  always,  but  particularly  in 
Winter,  the  two  sturdy  evergreens  would  be 
a  daily  joy. 

Grapes.  A  few  grape  vines,  particularly 
if  grown  over  a  modest  pergola,  or  an 
arbor  where  their  shade  would  make  a  pleas- 
ant place  of  refuge  through  the  Summer 
days,  give  delight  by  the  beauty  of  their 
foliage  and  fruit.  Hardy  grape  vines,  if 
they  are  kept  in  good  condition,  seem  to 
bear  indefinitely.  I  know  some  vines  which 
are  still  bearing  profusely,  well  into  the 
lifetime  of  a  third  generation. 

Grapes  thrive  in  a  light  clayey  soil  which 
has  been  well  enriched.  The  vines  should  be 
two  years  old  when  planted,  and  the  roots 
must  be  carefully  spread  out  and  every  pre- 
caution taken  in  setting  them,  which  should 
be  done  as  soon  as  the  ground  can  be 
worked  in  the  Spring.  The  vines  must  be 
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ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

planted  in  full  sun,  from  six  to  eight  feet 
apart,  and  a  heavy  mulch  of  leaves  or  stable 
litter  should  be  spread  around  them  early  in 
the  Spring,  after  the  ground  has  been  fertil- 
ized with  bone  meal  or  manure. 

If  but  half  a  dozen  vines  are  to  be 
grown,  they  may  be  planted  by  a  trellis  of 
stout  cedar  posts,  sunk  four  feet  in  the 
ground;  the  trellis  can  be  placed  where  it 
will  serve  as  a  screen.  The  success  of  the 
grape  crop  depends  very  largely  upon 
careful  and  correct  pruning,  which  should 
be  done  in  February  or  March.  The  hardy 
grapes  are  unusually  free  from  disease,  and 
my  own  have  never  yet  been  attacked  with 
any  of  the  possible  enemies  of  the  grape. 

Satisfactory  varieties  of  grapes  are:  Con- 
cord, Isabella,  and  Wilder,  black;  Delaware, 
Catawba,  and  Rogers,  red;  and  Niagara, 
Winchell  and  Rebecca,  white. 

Currant  bushes  make  a  good  border  for  a 
path   through   the   vegetable    garden.     They 
78 


FRUITS 

are  hardy  and  healthy,  bear  profusely,  and 
besides  the  necessary  pruning  in  Winter  and 
some  fertilizer  dug  about  them  in  Spring, 
need  no  other  care  excepting  to  be  sprayed 
with  hellebore  in  case  the  currant  worm 
appears.  The  bushes  should  be  set  from 
four  to  six  feet  apart,  and  two-year-old 
plants  are  best.  If  placed  along  a  garden 
walk  and  planted  six  feet  apart,  Paeonies 
might  be  planted  between  the  currant 
bushes,  and  as  the  foliage  of  Paeonies  be- 
comes very  luxuriant,  they  will  form  with 
the  currant  bushes,  quite  a  hedge. 

Satisfactory  varieties  of  currants  are: 
White  Grape,  Cherry,  Wilder,  Victoria,  and 
Prince  Albert. 

Gooseberries  require  the  same  culture  as 
currants,  but  thrive  best  in  a  partial  shade. 
Besides  the  currant  worm,  gooseberries  have 
another  enemy  in  mildew,  but  this  can  be 
prevented  by  spraying  with  Bordeaux  mix- 
ture in  March  and  April,  and  again  still 
later  should  any  signs  of  the  trouble  appear. 
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ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

Downing,  Houghton,  and  Industry  are  prob- 
ably the  three  best  varieties. 

The  blackberries,  raspberries,  and  straw- 
berries we  raise,  while  not  adding  to  the 
beauty  of  the  garden,  are  fruits  so  delicious 
and  so  universally  liked  that,  whenever 
it  is  possible,  a  place  should  be  found  for 
them  in  the  home  garden. 

One  of  the  bulletins  issued  by  the  United 
States  Agricultural  Department  gives  a  plan 
for  a  small  fruit  garden,  occupying  a  plot 
about  60  by  80  feet,  on  which  the  following 
could  be  grown:  Six  peach  trees;  six  cher- 
ries; six  dwarf  apple  trees;  six  plums; 
twenty  blackberries;  forty  black  caps;  forty 
red  raspberries;  three  hundred  strawberries; 
thirty-two  grape  vines,  planted  at  intervals 
of  ten  feet  all  around  the  plot,  and  eight- 
een dwarf  pear  trees.  Such  a  small  piece 
of  ground  so  planted,  if  properly  cared  for 
and  cultivated,  would  yield  a  large  quan- 
tity of  fruit. 

Blackberries  require  a  rich,  moist,  but 
80 


FRUITS 

well-drained  soil.  They  may  be  set  out  in 
the  Fall,  and  should  be  planted  about  four 
feet  apart  in  rows  that  are  five  feet  apart. 
In  the  Spring,  a  good  top  dressing  of  stable 
manure  should  be  dug  around  the  bushes, 
which  should  be  kept  free  from  weeds,  and 
in  dry  weather,  until  they  cease  bearing,  the 
ground  around  them  should  be  kept  loose 
by  frequent  stirring  with  a  rake  or  hoe. 
The  plants  must  be  trimmed  when  they 
cease  bearing,  and  as  a  cane  bears  only  one 
crop,  the  old  ones  must  be  cut  out;  not 
more  than  six  canes  should  be  allowed  to 
a  plant,  and  if  others  form  they  should  be 
cut  down.  The  canes  should  not  be  allowed 
to  grow  higher  than  four  feet,  unless  they 
are  to  be  kept  well  staked.  Where  the 
Winters  are  very  severe,  blackberries  are 
either  bent  down  and  covered  with  earth  or 
tied  to  stakes  and  wrapped  in  straw. 

Among  the  best  varieties  of  blackberries 
are  Agawam  and  Erie,  early,  and  Lawton 
and  Kittatinny,  late. 

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ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

Raspberries,  both  the  red  and  white,  and 
the  black,  commonly  called  Black  Caps,  are 
grown  in  the  same  manner  as  blackberries; 
the  canes  should  be  cut  out,  leaving  but  six 
canes  to  a  plant,  and  they  should  also  be 
similarly  protected  in  Winter.  A  berry  plan- 
tation with  careful  cultivation  usually  bears 
good  crops  for  five  years ;  it  is  then  advis- 
able to  set  out  new  plants  on  other  ground. 
Newly  plowed  ground  should  not  be  used 
for  berries,  but  a  place  chosen  where  corn, 
potatoes  or  beans  were  grown  the  previous 
year.  Raspberries  may  be  propagated  by 
root  cuttings,  or  suckers  from  the  roots. 

Fine  varieties  of  raspberries  are:  Clark, 
Fastolf,  Kenesett,  and  Marlboro,  red; 
Golden  Queen  and  Orange,  yellow;  Eureka, 
Gault,  and  Gregg,  black  caps. 

Strawberries.  A  fine  strawberry  bed  is 
much  to  be  desired.  But  strawberries,  per- 
haps because  they  are  such  an  addition  to 
the  fruit  garden,  are  more  difficult  of  culti- 

82 


FRUITS 

vation,  must  be  more  frequently  renewed, 
and,  like  many  rare  and  beautiful  things, 
require  more  labor  to  produce  than  the  other 
small  fruits.  The  strawberry  bed  should  be 
as  nearly  level  as  possible,  should  be  well 
enriched  with  stable  manure,  and  have  some 
bone  meal  and  nitrate  of  soda,  spaded  deeply 
into  the  ground,  which  must  be  finely  pul- 
verized. 

Late  in  August  or  early  in  September 
is  the  best  time  to  set  out  the  plants. 
A  neighbor  possessing  a  large  strawberry 
bed  is  often  willing  to  give  away  runners 
(the  young  plants  formed  on  the  shoots 
from  the  parent)  ;  if  they  are  to  be  bought, 
pot-grown  plants  are  the  best.  Plants  that 
have  a  small  crown  but  a  good  root  develop- 
ment, are  preferable;  the  hole  for  the  roots 
should  be  amply  large  and  the  plants 
set  deeply,  so  that  only  the  leaves  are  above 
ground.  I  have  always  found  "hill  culture" 
of  strawberries  to  be  the  most  satisfactory. 
In  this  method,  the  plants  are  set  twelve 
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ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

inches  apart  in  rows  eighteen  inches  apart. 
Each  plant  is  then  kept  free  from  weeds, 
no  runners  are  allowed  to  form,  and  larger 
crops  are  produced  in  consequence.  The 
young  plants  should  be  mulched  with  old 
manure  when  set  out,  and  if  the  weather  is 
dry  they  should  be  watered  twice  a  week,  as 
drought  would  be  apt  to  kill  many  of  them. 

Late  in  November  the  strawberry  bed 
should  be  covered  to  the  depth  of  four  or 
five  inches  with  coarse  hay,  leaves  or  straw. 
This  should  be  removed  in  the  Spring  as 
soon  as  the  frost  is  out,  the  ground  then 
well  tilled  and  the  same  material  used  again 
as  a  mulch,  close  around  the  plants  and  over 
the  ground  between  the  rows,  or  else,  if 
preferred,  other  hay  or  straw  or  clippings 
of  lawn  grass  used  instead.  This  Summer 
mulching  is  important,  not  only  for  keeping 
the  berries  clean  and  free  from  earth,  but 
to  prevent  the  ground  from  becoming  hard 
and  dry. 

A  strawberry  bed  will  yield  two  good 
84 


FRUITS 

crops.  After  it  has  ceased  bearing  the 
second  year,  allow  the  runners  to  grow  and 
prepare  a  new  bed;  by  the  end  of  August 
the  runners  will  have  become  nice  little 
plants,  which  can  be  removed  and  planted 
in  the  new  bed.  The  old  plants  should  then 
be  thrown  out,  the  ground  where  they  were, 
well  spaded  and  left  to  lie  until  Spring, 
when  it  can  be  fertilized  and  used  for  vege- 
tables. So  long  as  the  fruit  continues  to  be 
satisfactory  this  process  can  be  continued, 
but  should  the  quality  of  the  fruit  dete- 
riorate, a  new  stock  of  plants  should  be 
procured  from  a  nurseryman. 

There  are  more  differences  of  opinion  as 
to  the  variety  of  strawberries  preferred,  than 
in  the  case  of  any  of  the  other  fruits. 
Many  prefer  the  enormous  berries  to  smaller 
ones  of  finer  flavor.  The  very  large  berries 
are  of  firmer  substance  than  many  of  the 
smaller  varieties,  but  seem  to  lose  in  flavor. 
Nor  can  the  cultivated  varieties  compare  in 
flavor  with  the  little  wild  berries  that  one  is 
85 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

able  to  get  sometimes  in  more  distant  parts 
of  this  country,  brought  in  by  the  farmers' 
children,  and  also  in  the  Alps,  or  Dolomites, 
where  they  ripen  toward  the  end  of  July. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  strawberry 
plants, — the  perfect  flowering  varieties  and 
the  pistillate  or  imperfect  flowering.  The 
pistillate  varieties  must  be  planted  with  or 
near  the  perfect  flowering,  so  that  the  bees 
and  winds  may  carry  the  pollen  from  the 
perfect  to  the  imperfect  flowers.  It  may  be 
best  to  plant  only  strawberries  of  perfect 
flowering  varieties  to  insure  a  crop,  for 
should  heavy  rains  come  when  the  straw- 
berries are  in  blossom  the  pollen  may  be 
washed  away.  A  row  of  perfect  flowering 
strawberries  should  be  planted  to  every  two 
rows  of  the  pistillate  or  imperfect  flowering 
varieties. 

Strawberries  are  seldom  attacked  by  dis- 
ease, but  occasionally  rust  or  mildew  appears. 
These  troubles  can  be  held  in  check  by 
spraying  the  young  plants  with  Bordeaux 
86 


FRUITS 

mixture   when   they   are   first   set   out,   and 
again  when  they  have  finished  blossoming. 

Good  varieties  of  strawberries  are: 
Haverland  and  Bubach,  pistillate  varieties; 
Michel's  Early  and  Bederwood,  early  per- 
fect flowering;  Lovett,  McKinley,  and 
Brandywine,  late  perfect  flowering. 

Melons  A  melon  patch  requires  con- 
siderable room,  as  the  hills  for  the  vines 
should  be  at  least  six  feet  apart  each  way, 
and  there  should  be  twenty  hills  each  of 
water  melons  and  musk  melons.  The  soil 
should  be  light  and  sandy  or  the  melons 
will  not  succeed.  The  ground  to  receive 
them  must  be  well  cultivated,  and  the  place 
chosen  for  the  melon  patch  should  be  as  far 
removed  as  possible  from  cucumbers  and 
squash.  It  is  better  also  to  separate  some- 
what widely  the  musk  melons  from  the 
water  melons.  The  culture  of  both  is  alike. 
Hills  should  be  made  six  feet  apart  and  ten 
seeds  should  be  planted  in  a  hill,  after  all 
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ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

danger  from  frost  has  ceased.  Some  leaf- 
mould,  old  manure  and  a  little  bone  meal, 
dug  into  the  hills,  will  be  a  stimulus  to  the 
melon  vines,  which  should  be  grown  in  full 
sun  and  given  every  aid  to  mature  rapidly. 

Insects  are  apt  to  attack  the  young  vines, 
which  should  be  looked  over  every  morning 
and  the  insects  destroyed.  The  vines  may 
also  be  sprayed  with  Bordeaux  mixture  or 
tobacco  water.  When  the  vines  are  a  foot 
in  length,  all  but  four  plants  should  be 
taken  out  from  each  hill.  Some  vines  are 
generally  destroyed  by  insects,  this  being 
the  reason  for  planting  an  extra  quantity 
to  provide  for  loss. 

Netted  Gem,  Hackensack,  Rocky  Ford, 
and  Newport  are  good  varieties  of  musk 
melon,  and  Hungarian  Honey,  White  Seeded 
Ice  Cream,  and  Mountain  Sweet  are  desir- 
able water  melons. 

The  greatest  difficulty  in  raising  fruit  in 
the  home  garden,  as  we  have  found  it,  has 
88 


FRUITS 

been  the  marauding  proclivities  of  the  neigh- 
bors' boys.  The  appetite  of  the  small  boy, 
and  ^sometimes,  alas!  of  the  small  girl,  for 
apples,  pears,  and  cherries,  enables  them  to 
overcome  all  barriers,  however  high,  and 
circumvent  all  diligence,  however  watchful, 
to  procure  the  coveted  fruit,  and  no  pangs 
are  too  severe  to  endure  for  its  sake,  often 
taken  when  far  from  ripe,  as  the  child's 
mother  later  learns  from  a  wakeful  night. 

The  idea  of  "mine"  seems  to  be  well 
and  clearly  developed,  but  the  definition  of 
"thine"  is  hazy  and  incomplete.  It  is  strange 
how  badly  brought  up  "other  people's  chil- 
dren" often  appear,  while  it  seems  that  one's 
own  are  generally  little  white  angels!  To 
the  birds  we  willingly  give  their  portion  of 
the  fruit,  and  when  the  small  boy  gener- 
ously allows  us  a  share,  even  a  little  fruit 
garden  will  amply  repay  the  owner  for  the 
time  and  money  spent  upon  it. 


A  LITTLE   ABOUT   TREES 


CHAPTER   IV 

A  LITTLE  ABOUT  TREES 

IT  is  with  hesitation  that  I  have  ventured 
to  approach  so  large  a  subject  in  a  lim- 
ited space.  A  landscape  gardener  to  whom  I 
confided  the  fact  that  this  little  book  would 
contain  a  short  chapter  upon  trees  that  might 
be  useful  to  the  amateur,  turned  a  withering 
glance  upon  me  with  the  remark  that  "when 
Mr.  Blank's  large  two-volume  work  upon 
trees  is  comparatively  elementary,  what  can 
you  possibly  say  in  one  chapter  that  will  be 
useful?"  Of  course  I  was  deeply  humili- 
ated and  could  make  no  fitting  reply.  But 
the  idea  remained  with  me.  I  knew  my  own 
aversion  to  searching  through  comprehensive 
works  of  many  volumes  when  I  needed  only 
a  little  practical  information,  and  have,  there- 
fore, taken  courage  again  to  write  briefly 
93 


ANOTHER    HARDY    GARDEN    BOOK 

about  some  trees  of  vigorous  growth,  hoping 
that  the  amateur  may  find  it  helpful. 

The  native  trees  of  the  locality  where  you 
live  are  sure  to  flourish.  The  climate  and 
soil  suit  them.  They  will  bear  transplanting 
well,  and,  if  carefully  attended  to,  are  quite 
sure  to  live.  Drive  around  the  country, 
notice  the  trees  growing  by  the  roadside  or 
about  the  older  places  and  farm-houses;  see 
what  trees  are  in  the  woodlands,  and  after 
deciding  what  you  want,  order  them  from 
some  good  nursery,  or,  what  is  more  inter- 
esting, get  them  from  the  fields  and  woods. 

Deciduous  trees  must  be  transplanted 
either  in  the  very  early  Spring  as  soon  as 
the  ground  can  be  dug,  or  in  late  October, 
after  the  leaves  have  fallen.  If  you  own 
no  fields  or  woodlands  where  young  trees 
are  growing,  then  go  about  the  country 
until  you  find  what  you  want;  if  you  think 
they  can  be  obtained,  make  friends  with  the 
farmer  (it  will  probably  be  a  farmer)  who 
owns  the  trees;  he  will  undoubtedly  be  glad 
04 


White  Birch,  eight  years  after  being  planted  as  a 

small  tree  about  four  feet  high 

September  seventeenth 


TREES 

to  sell  them  to  you  at  a  reasonable  price, 
and  also,  as  farm  work  is  not  pressing  in 
late  October  or  at  the  end  of  March,  to  dig 
up  and  deliver  the  trees  to  you  for  the 
price  of  a  day's  work.  But  don't  trust 
him  to  do  it  without  oversight,  unless  you 
know  that  the  man  has  had  experience  and 
been  successful  in  getting  out  trees,  and, 
above  all,  have  it  understood  and  insist  that 
the  roots  must  be  whole,  if  there  is  a  tap 
root,  that  it  shall  all  be  there,  that  the  tops 
shall  be  uninjured,  and,  in  fact,  that  the 
whole  tree  be  in  good  condition. 

If  a  few  trees  only  are  to  be  transplanted, 
you  will  be  interested  to  go  yourself  and 
watch  them  dug  out,  to  be  sure  that  every 
precaution  is  taken.  Have  some  old  stable 
blankets  or  large  pieces  of  burlap  ready  to 
cover  the  roots  of  each  tree  as  soon  as  lifted, 
so  that  they  do  not  become  dry,  and  do  not 
allow  more  trees  to  be  taken  up  than  can 
be  moved  to  their  new  home  and  planted 
the  same  day. 

05 


ANOTHER    HARDY    GARDEN    BOOK 

More  care  must  be  taken  in  transplanting 
trees  from  the  woods  and  fields  than  with 
nursery  stock.  In  nurseries  the  trees  are 
frequently  moved,  their  form  carefully  pre- 
served, the  roots  pruned,  and  packing  for 
transportation  reduced  to  a  science.  But  a 
tree  that  you  have  seen  growing  in  a  fence 
corner  or  in  a  woodland,  whose  transplant- 
ing you  have  personally  superintended,  will 
be  more  an  object  of  fond  pride  and  dearer 
to  you,  than  the  nursery-grown  tree  that 
comes  in  a  box  by  express. 

If  possible,  always  have  your  nursery 
stock  sent  by  express.  This  is  important. 
Freight  is  slow,  and  plants  and  trees  often 
become  so  dried  out  by  the  long  transit 
that  they  cannot  survive.  Last  Fall  I  lost 
a  number  of  plants  sent  from  a  Western 
State  because  the  orders  to  send  by  express 
were  misunderstood  and  the  box  reached 
me  as  freight  after  being  three  weeks  on 
the  way.  The  actual  loss  was  made  good, 
but  there  was  the  annoyance  and  delay. 
96 


TREES 

There  are  many  native  shrubs  to  be  found 
growing  in  the  fields  and  by  streams,  that 
are  worthy  of  a  place  in  any  garden.  They 
are  easy  to  transplant  and  quite  sure  to  live. 
They  must  be  well  pruned,  however,  and 
quite  half  of  the  tops  should  be  cut  off. 

Among  the  shrubs  to  be  found  in  the 
fields  are  the  sweet-briars,  alders,  black 
chokebeny,  elders,  witch  hazel,  and  the 
splendid  sumac.  In  many  localities  the 
Rhododendron  maximum,  laurel,  and  the 
pink  azalea,  none  of  which  should  ever  be 
trimmed,  can  be  dug  from  the  woods  with 
but  little  trouble. 

Many  vines  are  also  to  be  found  grow- 
ing against  old  fences  or  twining  about 
trees.  These  may  be  carefully  dug  up, 
the  tops  somewhat  cut  down  and  brought 
home  in  triumph,  to  plant  by  the  veranda 
posts,  to  cover  a  rustic  summer  house,  or  to 
twine  about  a  trellis.  Four  of  the  best  of 
these  wild  vines  are  Virginia  creeper,  bitter 
sweet,  wild  clematis,  and  the  wild  grape. 
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ANOTHER    HARDY   GARDEN    BOOK 

I  care  infinitely  more  for  the  trees,  decid- 
uous and  evergreen,  the  rhododendrons  and 
other  things  that  I  have  had  transplanted 
from  the  woods  and  fields,  and  succeeded  in 
making  happy  in  their  new  home,  than  for 
anything  that  we  have  bought  from  nur- 
serymen. 

When  you  have  once  acquired  the  taste 
for  transplanting  from  the  country  side, 
there  is  no  overcoming  the  desire.  You 
become  more  observant,  and  when  walk- 
ing or  driving,  you  look  upon  the  trees, 
shrubs,  vines  and  flowering  plants  along  the 
road  or  in  the  fields  with  an  eye  to  bringing 
them  home  some  day.  I  know  now  of  a 
straight,  healthy  tulip  tree,  about  twelve 
feet  high,  growing  on  a  tangled  roadside 
some  miles  away,  which  I  have  often 
thought  about  during  this  Summer  and 
Fall.  Some  day  I  shall  make  friends  with 
the  farmer,  who  probably  does  not  care 
about  or  even  know  of  its  existence,  and 
hope  to  persuade  him  to  let  me  have  the  tree. 
98 


Young  Irish  Yew 
August  tenth 


TREES 

I  have  always  preferred  to  plant  decid- 
uous trees  in  the  Spring,  and  have  had 
extraordinary  success.  The  hole  to  receive 
the  trees  must  be  deeper  and  larger  than  the 
roots,  and  in  the  bottom  should  be  placed  a 
quantity  of  well-rotted  manure,  which  must 
be  covered  with  about  four  inches  of  good 
earth  free  from  lumps  and  stones.  Then 
set  the  tree,  which  one  man  should  hold 
upright,  while  another,  after  spreading  out 
the  roots  carefully,  shovels  in  the  earth, 
which  should  be  top  soil,  well  pulverized. 
When  the  hole  is  about  half  filled  in,  turn 
on  the  water  and  thoroughly  wet  the  ground 
below  and  all  about  the  roots.  The  rest  of 
the  earth  can  then  be  filled  in  and  pounded 
down,  and  the  ground  around  the  tree  cov- 
ered with  a  mulch  of  coarse  manure.  If  the 
weather  is  dry,  the  tree  must  be  well  watered 
twice  a  week  and  the  earth  soaked  to  the 
roots;  the  tree  will  then  be  quite  sure  to  live. 

When  visiting  recently  in  a  beautiful  coun- 
try town  not  far  from  New  York,  where 
99 


ANOTHER    HARDY   GARDEN    BOOK 

every  place  both  large  and  small  was  neatly 
kept  and  generally  well  planted,  I  came  one 
day,  when  walking,  upon  a  man  engaged  in 
setting  out  a  row  of  trees  along  the  road 
in  front  of  a  house.  They  were  pin  oaks, 
unusually  fine  young  trees,  and  the  row  of 
them  was  probably  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
long.  The  ignorant  creature  had  dug  holes 
barely  deep  enough  to  cover  the  roots  in 
the  clay  soil,  which  was  like  hard  pan.  This 
he  did  not  pulverize  or  loosen,  but  merely 
hollowed  out  a  sort  of  basin,  the  bottom 
and  sides  of  which  were  perfectly  smooth 
and  hard.  Into  these  hollows  the  roots  of 
the  trees  were  placed,  and  the  earth,  full 
of  pieces  of  sand-stone,  was  then  shovelled 
back  upon  them.  For  three  successive  days 
I  returned  to  see  these  trees  and  their 
planting,  which  the  man  finished  in  this 
time,  and  observed  that  no  good  earth,  no 
fertilizer,  no  mulch  was  used,  and  that 
during  that  time  none  of  the  trees  were 
watered.  How  can  even  a  brave  and  hardy 
100 


Cut  leaved  Maple,  eight  years  after  planting  as  a  tiny  tree 
September  seventeenth 


TREES 

oak  tree  survive  such  treatment,  and  how 
can  the  tender  rootlets  find  their  way  into 
so  hard  and  uncongenial  a  soil?  I  shall 
make  an  expedition  to  this  same  town  next 
Spring  for  the  special  purpose  of  seeing 
the  condition  of  those  trees. 

A  tree  ten  years  after  planting  should  have 
attained  a  good  size,  give  a  fair  amount  of 
shade  and  be  a  beautiful  object.  But  cul- 
tivate modest  expectations  as  to  the  growth 
of  the  trees  you  plant,  and  think  only  of 
those  who  are  to  come  after  you  and  enjoy 
the  shade,  and  new  surprises  will  be  yours 
each  year.  I  have  never  planted  a  tree  with- 
out thoughts  of  possible  grandchildren  who 
would  enjoy  its  beauty. 

There  is  a  legend  that  a  great-grandmother 
in  our  family,  riding  as  a  bride  with  her 
young  husband  to  their  new  home,  almost  in 
the  wilderness,  planted  her  riding  switch  used 
the  last  day  of  the  journey,  at  the  foot  of 
the  avenue  leading  to  the  house.  The  switch 
had  been  cut  from  an  elm  and  retained  so 
101 


ANOTHER    HARDY    GARDEN    BOOK 

much  life,  that  it  took  root  and  grew  and 
has  become  a  mighty  tree,  which  is  still 
pointed  out  to  visitors  as  an  object  of  inter- 
est to  all  who  hear  the  story  connected  with 
it.  The  ground  must  have  been  damp  and 
the  conditions  unusually  favorable  that  the 
little  switch,  so  long  after  being  cut  from 
the  parent  tree,  should  have  been  able  to 
survive. 

If  large  branches  of  good  form  are  cut 
from  willow  trees  in  early  Spring  and  thrust 
deeply  (say  two  feet)  into  the  ground  in 
any  damp  spot  or  on  the  borders  of  a  pond 
or  stream,  they  will  readily  take  root  and  in 
a  few  years  become  good  trees.  These 
branches  should  be  well  staked  until  firmly 
rooted. 

Avoid  planting  trees,  no  matter  how  de- 
sirable they  are,  which  in  your  locality  are 
likely  to  be  attacked  by  borers,  as,  for 
example,  the  chestnut  in  many  States,  and 
the  elm  by  beetles  in  parts  of  New  Eng- 
land. 

102 


TREES 
DECIDUOUS    TREES 

First  and  best  of  all,  though  not  of  so 
rapid  growth  as  other  trees,  are  the  white 
oak  and  the  pin  oak.  These  two  trees  must 
be  severely  pruned  upon  transplanting. 

Next  perhaps  in  value  are  maples.  The 
sugar  maple  is  a  beautiful  tree  whose  foliage 
makes  a  dense  shade  in  Summer  and  becomes 
a  glory  of  color  when  touched  by  frost  in 
the  Autumn.  The  Norway  maple,  fine  in 
shape  and  quick  growing,  and  the  cut-leaved 
maple,  of  rapid  growth,  with  drooping 
branches  and  delicate  foliage,  are  especially 
valuable  varieties. 

Ailanthus  is  one  of  the  fastest  growing 
trees  and  will  thrive  in  any  soil.  The  foliage 
is  almost  tropical;  but  the  female  tree 
should  always  be  planted  to  avoid  the  blos- 
soms, which  have  a  disagreeable  odor. 

The  American  ash  and  the  beech  tree  of 
our  own  woods  make  grand  trees.  Both  of 
them  require  severe  pruning  when  trans- 
103 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

planted.  The  rarer  varieties  of  copper  and 
purple  beech  have  beautiful  foliage  and  a 
well-grown  specimen  of  either  of  these  trees 
is  always  greatly  admired. 

The  cut-leaved  weeping  birch  and  also 
the  white  birch,  which  is  found  in  many 
woodlands,  are  of  rapid  growth  and  have  a 
white  bark  which  makes  them  objects  of  par- 
ticular beauty. 

Chestnut,  hickory,  and  black  walnut  are 
all  fine  trees,  the  black  walnut  perhaps  the 
best  of  the  three. 

The  European  bird  cherry,  known  to  us 
as  the  wild  cherry,  and  the  black  cherry, 
which  also  grows  in  fields  and  woodlands, 
are  both  desirable  trees. 

Dogwoods  are  to  be  found  in  many  wood- 
lands. Mark  the  spot  in  the  Spring  where 
they  blossom  and  transplant  them  in  the 
Autumn. 

The  catalpa,  with  its  immense  leaves, 
orchid-like  blossoms,  and  rapid  growth,  is 
invaluable  for  effect.  I  had  always  sup- 
104 


TREES 

posed  this  tree  to  be  perfectly  hardy,  but 
the  only  two  on  our  place,  which  were  set 
out  eight  years  ago  and  had  grown  trunks 
over  two  feet  in  circumference,  were  killed 
from  the  top  half  way  down  by  the  severe 
cold  of  last  Winter.  I  waited  until  the  end 
of  June  and  then  had  the  dead  tops  cut  off 
and  the  remaining  branches  pruned  to  give 
proportion  to  the  height,  and  though  at 
present  they  appear  somewhat  stunted,  a 
couple  of  years  will  probably  bring  them 
into  shape  again. 

Catalpa  Bungii  and  the  pyramidal  ever- 
green are  about  the  only  trees  that  should 
be  grown  directly  in  a  flower  garden,  as 
flowers  will  not  thrive  in  a  shade. 

Catalpa  Bungii  are  small  trees  with  the 
large  leaves  of  the  catalpa.  They  are 
catalpas  grafted  on  straight  stems  or  stand- 
ards of  from  five  and  a  half  to  six  feet 
tall,  to  give  good  effect.  They  should  be 
set  out  in  the  Spring  and  kept  carefully  tied 
to  stakes  and  well  mulched.  Every  year,  in 
105 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

March,  they  should  be  trimmed  back  to  what 
the  gardeners  call  "two  eyes,"  in  order  that 
they  may  form  large  heads.  Thus  trimmed 
they  are  similar  in  form  to  the  bay  tree  and 
give  the  same  formal  effect,  when  planted 
singly  at  the  top  of  a,  flight  of  steps,  on 
either  side  of  the  end  of  a  path,  in  rows  on 
a  terrace,  or  at  equal  distances  on  both  sides 
of  a  walk. 

Catalpa  Bungii  are  hardy  as  far  north  as 
New  York,  or  have  always  been  considered 
so,  but  last  Winter  over  forty  of  ours,  old, 
well-rooted  trees,  were  killed,  although  others 
in  the  same  latitude,  but  nearer  New  York 
City,  endured  the  severe  Winter  without 
harm.  It  seems,  however,  to  be  only  the 
graft  that  dies,  as  the  stems  were  in  every 
case  alive.  In  future,  I  shall  have  the 
grafted  tops  protected  by  wrapping  in 
straw  or  other  suitable  covering. 

There  is  no  hardier  and  more  beautiful 
tree  than  the  American  elm,  but  it  is  so 
often  the  victim  of  the  beetle  and  cater- 
106 


TREES 

pillar  that  its  beauty  becomes  greatly  im- 
paired. 

The  horse  chestnut  is  a  perfectly  hardy, 
rapidly-growing  tree,  with  beautiful  foliage, 
and  is  covered  with  blossoms  in  May. 

The  form  of  the  larch,  with  its  feathery 
foliage  and  its  hardiness  (in  Europe  it 
grows  on  mountain  slopes  almost  to  the 
eternal  snow),  makes  it  a  most  desirable 
tree. 

The  tilia,  or  linden,  is  a  rapid-growing 
tree  attaining  large  size.  The  most  satis- 
factory varieties  are  the  American  linden, 
to  be  found  in  many  woods,  and  the  Euro- 
pean, or  silver-leaved  linden.  These  trees 
seem  to  be  hardy  and  thrive  in  any  situation. 

The  locust  is  another  tree  of  rapid  growth 
which  attains  great  height.  From  the  end 
of  May,  for  about  two  weeks,  they  are  cov- 
ered with  white  blossoms  of  delicious  odor, 
which  attract  the  bees  for  miles  around. 
The  early  settlers  on  Long  Island  must  have 
had  great  fondness  for  this  tree,  as  so 
107 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

many  of  the  old  homesteads  there  are  em- 
bowered in  them. 

The  Magnolia  conspicua  and  Magnolia 
Soulangiana  can  he  grown  either  as  small 
trees  or  large  shrubs.  In  intensely  cold 
localities  they  are  somewhat  difficult  to  bring 
through  the  first  two  or  three  Winters,  but 
if  given  some  protection  by  driving  ever- 
green branches  into  the  ground  about  them, 
they  will  generally  survive.  They  grow  rap- 
idly when  once  well  established. 

Everyone  knows  the  value  of  the  Lorn- 
bardy  poplar  in  giving  emphasis  to  the  land- 
scape; when  properly  planted  they  are  very 
effective. 

I  have  been  told  by  landscape  gardeners, 
that  the  Lombardy  poplar  no  longer  flour- 
ishes to  great  age  in  this  country  as  formerly, 
and  as  it  still  flourishes  abroad,  one  man  of 
great  experience  saying  to  me  that  he  did 
not  know  of  a  single  perfect  row  of  these 
trees  that  had  been  planted  within  the  last 
twenty  years,  in  every  case  some  having  died 
108 


Catalpa  Bungii,  four  years  old 
July  seventeenth 


TREES 

and  others  having  begun  to  die  at  the  top. 
When  a  branch  dies  it  should  be  sawed  off 
immediately  and  the  place  given  a  coat  of 
thick  paint;  the  tree  is  then  likely  to  put 
forth  a  new  branch.  But  the  Lombardy 
poplar  grows  so  tall  and  slender  that  should 
a  branch  die  near  the  top  ten  years  after 
planting,  it  would  be  difficult  to  get  at  it 
to  cut  it  away.  On  our  own  place,  settled 
by  a  Huguenot  some  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago,  there  are  magnificent  Lombardy 
poplars  growing  about  an  old  family  bury- 
ing ground,  and  it  is  a  fancy  of  mine,  that 
they  were  planted  by  the  original  settler 
in  memory  of  the  poplars  of  the  France  he 
had  left  in  his  youth.  These  trees  are  only 
now  beginning  to  die.  To  continue  the  old 
Huguenot  love  for  the  trees,  I  have  recently 
set  out  a  row  ten  feet  apart  and  three  hun- 
dren  and  fifty  feet  long  on  the  upper  side  of 
the  gardens,  and  hope  they  may  be  exempt 
from  the  fate  of  the  modern  poplar  and  as 
long-lived  as  their  predecessors  on  the  farm. 
109 


ANOTHER   HARDY   GARDEN    BOOK 

The  growth  of  the  Carolina  poplar  is  so 
rapid  that  it  is  most  valuable  as  a  screen. 
Many  poplars  are  native  in  our  woods  and 
bear  transplanting  easily. 

The  sycamore,  or  plane  tree,  growing 
straight  and  tall,  is  beautiful  in  appearance, 
but  untidy  from  the  continually  peeling 
bark,  which  makes  a  litter  all  about  it. 

No  tree  is  handsomer  than  the  native 
tulip,  which  grows  to  a  great  height,  has 
large,  glossy  leaves,  and  bears  lovely  yellow- 
orange  tulip-shaped  flowers  at  the  end  of 
May. 

Purple  and  copper  beech,  tulips,  catalpas, 
birch,  magnolias,  and  Lombardy  poplars 
should  be  set  out  in  early  Spring,  so  as 
to  become  well  established  before  Winter. 
Dogwood  and  larch  start  so  early,  that  it 
is  better  to  transplant  them  in  the  Fall;  the 
other  varieties  mentioned  may  be  trans- 
planted equally  well  in  Spring  or  Autumn. 

Trees  of  hardwood,  such  as  oak,  ash,  and 
hickory,  need  more  pruning  when  trans- 
110 


Three  Evergreen  trees  dug  from  the  woods 
July  twenty-third 


TREES 

planted  than  soft-wooded  trees.  Pruning 
requires  knowledge  and  skill,  and  those  who 
plant  should  inform  themselves  upon  the 
subject. 

Unsightly  caterpillar  nests  that  often  ap- 
pear on  certain  trees  and  shrubs  can  be 
easily  destroyed  by  taking  pieces  of  old 
cotton  material,  binding  them  with  wire 
around  the  end  of  a  long  pole,  saturating 
thoroughly  with  kerosene,  then  lighting,  and 
with  this  gigantic  torch  burning  the  nests 
and  the  caterpillars. 

4 

EVERGREENS 

Too  much  cannot  be  said  in  favor  of  ever- 
green trees.  They  are  beautiful  objects, 
give  depth  and  background  to  all  growth  in 
Summer,  and  are  a  blessed  delight  in  Win- 
ter, either  as  the  only  bit  of  green  in  a 
brown  and  desolate  landscape  or  as  a  con- 
trast in  the  snowy  scene  when  the  great 
branches  bend  under  their  load  of  white. 

Evergreens,  particularly  large  ones,  are 
111 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

difficult  to  make  live,  unless  they  have  the 
sandy  soil  they  love.  In  localities  where  the 
soil  is  of  clay,  it  will  be  rather  a  struggle 
to  get  them  well  started.  This  done,  how- 
ever, they  rarely  die. 

In  planting  evergreens,  it  is  a  good 
plan  and  well  worth  the  trouble,  to  make  a 
hole  about  three  feet  square  and  put  in  the 
bottom  of  this  a  good  loam,  to  which  a 
quantity  of  sand  and  very  old  manure  has 
been  added,  then  a  layer  of  three  or  four 
inches  of  earth;  plant  the  trees  and  fill  in 
the  hole  with  more  earth  of  the  same  compo- 
sition, watering  well,  and  the  tree  is  almost 
sure  to  live  and  make  rapid  growth.  A 
little  extra  digging  in  making  the  hole  to 
receive  the  tree,  so  that  the  roots  have  en- 
couragement to  put  forth  into  good  loose 
soil,  will  make  the  greatest  difference  in  the 
growth  of  the  tree. 

Leaf-mould  and  old  sods  which  have 
been  finely  chopped  with  the  spade  are  the 
best  fertilizers  to  use  when  planting  ever- 
112 


TREES 

greens,  but  if  these  cannot  be  had,  the 
properly  prepared  earth,  taking  care  that 
no  manure  comes  in  contact  with  the  roots, 
will  be  sufficient. 

There  is  a  great  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  the  best  time  for  transplanting  ever- 
greens. Many  persons  say,  that  they  should 
only  be  set  out  in  the  Spring,  while  others 
contend  that  the  last  two  weeks  in  August 
and  the  first  two  in  September  is  the  proper 
time.  I  have  set  them  out  at  all  times  from 
early  April  until  the  middle  of  September, 
but  in  taking  young  pines,  hemlocks,  and 
cedars  from  the  woods,  have  had  the  best 
success  by  transplanting  them  when  the  first 
new  shoots  appeared.  In  February  of  this 
year,  however,  the  men  transplanted  some 
beautiful  tall  pointed  cedars  from  the  woods 
into  the  Lily  garden,  the  trees  being  moved 
with  great  balls  of  frozen  earth  about  the 
roots.  They  were  all  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  feet  in  height,  and  of  eight  but  one 
died,  and  this  occurred  probably  because 
113 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

the  entire  work  on  this  tree  was  not  finished 
the  same  day.  Having  large,  heavy  roots, 
it  was  only  possible  to  dig  them  up  with  a 
ball  of  frozen  earth.  These  trees  give  such 
an  appearance  of  age  to  this  garden  that 
no  one  could  imagine  it  was  not  yet  eight- 
een months  old. 

Some  of  the  native  evergreens,  the  white 
pine,  hemlock  and  the  many  varieties  of 
cedars,  as  they  are  called  by  the  uninitiated, 
— junipers  I  believe  they  really  are, — trans- 
plant easily  and  are  to  be  found  in  many 
localities. 

The  cedar,  growing  tall  and  pointed,  is 
regular  in  shape,  as  if  sheared  yearly,  and 
is  an  excellent  substitute  for  the  cypress 
of  Southern  Europe.  Landscape  architects 
have  learned  to  appreciate  its  value,  and 
are  now  using  these  trees  with  fine  effect. 
They  have  a  perfect  columnar  growth  and 
take  the  place  of  the  handsome  pyramidal 
evergreens  of  rare  varieties  used  in  formal 
gardens.  Young  cedars  have  a  tap  root, 
114 


Standard  lie  tin  in  pom  Plumos 
August  twenty-seventh 


TREES 

and  when  taken  from  inland  pastures,  which 
are  their  natural  haunt,  will  generally 
be  found  growing  closely  against  a  large 
stone  or  rock.  It  seems  that  the  seed  fall- 
ing there  finds  shelter  from  the  hot  sun,  and 
severe  cold,  and  that  the  young  shoot  is  thus 
better  able  to  struggle  through  the  first  year 
or  two.  A  tree  five  or  six  feet  in  height 
will  generally  be  easier  to  transplant  than 
one  of  but  three  feet,  for  the  tap  root  will 
have  been  absorbed  in  the  larger  tree.  I 
have  spent  many  interesting  mornings  first 
selecting  my  trees,  and  then  watching  them 
dug  up. 

Evergreens  are  more  difficult  to  transplant 
than  deciduous  trees,  for  they  usually  grow 
where  it  is  stony.  But  if  you  once  get  the 
tree  out  with  all  its  roots,  keep  it  from 
drying  up,  and  plant  it  carefully,  it  is  almost 
sure  to  live.  Four  good  sized  trees,  say  six 
feet  high,  are  as  many  as  two  men  can  dig 
up  in  a  morning.  The  larger  trees,  as  al- 
ready noted,  can  be  successfully  moved  only 
115 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

in  Winter,  and  it  is  a  day's  work  for  three 
or  four  men  to  get  out  and  plant  one  tree, 
unless  the  conditions  are  unusually  favorable. 

When  planting  shrubberies  with  evergreen 
trees  and  shrubs  for  a  screen,  they  can  be 
placed  closely  together  at  first  and  thinned 
out  as  they  grow.  I  have  two  or  three  such 
shrubberies,  from  which  it  seems  always  pos- 
sible to  take  out  an  evergreen  and  a  shrub 
with  benefit  to  those  remaining,  so  quickly 
do  they  grow. 

The  Arbor  vitae  pyramidalis,  of  close 
growth  and  lending  itself  easily  to  shearing, 
is  one  of  the  hardiest  and  most  satisfactory 
evergreens  for  formal  planting. 

The  Irish  juniper  is  another  beautiful 
pointed  tree  with  blue-green  foliage,  but  it  is 
not  hardy  in  severe  Winters.  Last  Autumn 
I  protected  mine,  first  by  spreading  a  heavy 
mulch  of  stable  manure  around  them  and 
then  by  driving  three  cedar  trees  cut  from 
the  woods  into  the  ground  about  each  tree, 
tying  all  together  with  heavy  cord,  but  they 
116 


TREES 

did  not  survive.  Pyramid  box  treated  in 
the  same  way  also  died.  In  future  I  shall 
have  the  box  trees  and  other  tender  ever- 
greens lifted  from  the  ground,  planted  in 
boxes  and  stored  through  the  Winter.  In 
cold  localities  where  the  thermometer  may 
drop  to  forty  degrees  below  zero  and  not 
rise  above  ten  below  for  six  weeks  at  a  time, 
as  it  did  last  Winter  in  our  part  of  the  coun- 
try for  the  first  time  within  the  memory  of 
the  oldest  inhabitant,  it  is  best  to  take  extra 
precautions  to  prevent  great  disaster  in  the 
garden. 

In  a  newspaper  last  Spring  I  read  the 
statement,  which  struck  terror  to  my  heart, 
that  some  astronomer  had  announced  that 
the  cold,  wet  Summer  of  a  year  ago  fol- 
lowed by  the  severe  Winter,  was  due  to  spots 
on  the  sun,  denoting  abnormal  atmospheric 
conditions;  that  it  would  take  nine  years  for 
these  spots  to  disappear,  and  that  accord- 
ingly the  weather  for  nine  years  would  be 
unusual.  There  may  be  nothing  in  this  sup- 
117 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

position,  or  it  may  be  true,  but  it  is  well  for 
every  gardener  not  to  take  any  chances. 

In  my  garden  the  severe  Winter  of  1903-4 
caused  many  losses.  Coming  out  the  middle 
of  April  to  spend  a  few  happy  days  super- 
intending Spring  work,  I  found  a  sad  state 
of  things.  Besides  the  Catalpa  Bungii,  Irish 
juniper  and  the  standard  box  trees,  all  the 
privet  hedges,  most  of  which  were  the  com- 
mon privet,  supposed  to  be  hardy,  were 
killed  to  the  ground.  All  the  Crimson  Ram- 
bler and  Wichuriana  Roses  were  dead  nearly 
to  the  ground,  and,  although  they  grew 
tremendously  during  the  Summer,  trellis 
and  rose  arches  were  bare  until  late  in  the 
season.  Every  Honeysuckle  on  the  place  was 
entirely  killed,  and  all  Clematis,  Wistaria  and 
Trumpet  Creeper  had  died  to  the  ground. 
During  the  Summer  they  have,  however, 
sent  up  shoots  of  surprising  growth,  as  if  to 
recoup  their  reputation  of  being  hardy 
plants.  Deutzias,  eight  feet  high,  and  also 
Vibernum  plicatum  were  killed,  while  more 
118 


Horse  Chestnut  tree  (slow  growing)  eight  years  after  planting 
September  fourth 


TREES 

than  half  the  low-growing  Roses  were  dead 
to  the  ground,  and  the  budded  ones  have 
this  Summer  grown  only  Sweet  Briar  bushes 
— a  warning  lesson  never  to  buy  Roses  ex- 
cept on  their  own  roots. 

The  hybrid  Perpetual  and  other  Roses 
that  survived,  produced  great  quantities  of 
flowers.  I  have  never  seen  finer  blooms  of 
Baroness  Rothschild,  Margaret  Dixon,  and 
Kaiserin  Augusta  Victoria  than  those  of  this 
year  in  my  garden. 

As  I  walked  about  my  beloved  garden  on 
that  April  day  and  saw  the  sad  havoc 
wrought  among  the  plants  by  the  cold  Win- 
ter, sorrow  and  despair,  such  as  the  gar- 
dener will  understand,  took  hold  of  me. 
Tears  are  the  most  futile  things  in  the  world 
and  serve  only  to  make  one  homely  and  un- 
attractive and  a  nuisance  to  others,  but  when 
the  men  went  off  to  dinner  I  retired  to  the 
farthest  corner  of  the  place  and,  with  only 
my  dog  to  see,  who  whined  in  sympathy, 
wept  bitterly.  But  courage  and  a  determi- 
119 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

nation  not  to  be  overcome,  quickly  came  to 
my  aid,  and  a  short  time  after  I  was  pre- 
paring lists  for  new  plants  and  trees  to 
make  good  the  Winter's  damage. 

The  spruces  (Abies  polita,  Abies  pyram- 
idalis)  and  the  arbor  vitae  (Thuja  Fer- 
vaeneana  and  pyramidalis)  are  hardy  trees 
of  pyramidal  form,  suitable  for  use  in  a 
garden  because  of  their  compact  growth. 

The  Irish  yew  is  another  decorative  ever- 
green, but  it  must  be  well  protected  from 
the  Winter's  sun  and  from  too  great  cold. 
Japanese  cedars,  the  Retinispora  group,  are 
all  compact  in  growth  and  submit  themselves 
to  shearing.  The  Retinispora  squarrosa  has 
beautiful  feathery  blue-green  foliage. 

The  Retinispora  plumosa,  or  Japanese 
cypress,  has  a  delicate  foliage  and  may  be 
grown  on  tall  stems  with  heavy  heads  like 
the  standard  bay  trees.  It  should  be  grown 
in  tubs,  however,  and  may  be  removed  in 
Winter  to  the  house  for  decorative  effect,  or 
stored  in  a  cellar  that  is  not  too  cold. 
120 


TREES 

A  light,  frost-proof  cellar  for  storing 
roots  and  small,  half-hardy  trees,  such  as 
box  and  bay,  is  as  necessary  a  requisite  for 
a  large  garden  as  a  properly  equipped  tool 
house,  and  enables  one  in  this  climate  to 
have  the  pleasure  of  certain  beautiful  things 
that  otherwise  it  would  be  impossible  to  keep 
through  the  Winters.  In  case  there  is  no 
cellar,  tender  evergreens,  such  as  Retini- 
spora  squarrosa,  Irish  yews,  junipers,  and 
standard  or  pyramidal  box,  should  be  pro- 
tected by  a  heavy  mulch  of  manure  spread 
over  the  roots  and  close  up  to  the  stems  of 
the  tree,  and  by  binding  rye-straw  or  corn 
stalks  about  each  tree  and  tying  all  together 
with  cord.  Winter  sun  shining  on  the 
frozen  foliage  seems  to  do  the  damage,  and 
both  straw  and  corn  stalks  keep  the  sun 
away  and  yet  admit  sufficient  air. 

Beware  of  setting  hens,  storks  standing 
on  one  leg,  pigs  with  curly  tails,  and  other 
animals  cut  in  box-wood  that  some  nursery- 
men display.  It  is  true  they  are  curious, 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

but  to  give  animal  form  to  a  tree  can  never 
be  other  than  bad  taste. 

Horace  Walpole,  in  his  essay  on  "Modern 
Gardening,"  first  printed  in  1771,  criticises 
the  fashion  that  "stocked  our  gardens  with 
giants,  animals,  monsters,  coats  of  arms,  and 
mottoes,  in  yew,  box  and  holly,"  remarking 
that  "absurdity  could  go  no  farther;"  and 
again,  after  inveighing  against  "the  tricks 
of  water  works  to  wet  the  unweary,  not  to 
refresh  the  panting  spectator,"  says:  "To 
crown  these  impotent  displays  of  false  taste 
the  shears  were  applied  to  the  lovely  wild- 
ness  of  form  with  which  nature  had  dis- 
tinguished each  various  species  of  tree  and 
shrub.  The  venerable  oak,  the  romantic 
beech,  the  useful  elms,  even  the  aspiring 
circuit  of  the  lime,  the  regular  round  of 
the  chestnut,  and  the  almost  moulded 
orange  tree  were  corrected  by  such  fantastic 
admirers  of  symmetry." 

Of  large-growing  evergreens  suitable  for 
the  lawn,  there  are  the  Austrian  pine  and 


Hop  Hornbeam,  a  rare  and  slow  growing  tree  of  compact 

form,  eighteen  years  after  planting 

September  twenty-second 


TREES 

Scotch  pine,  the  Norway  spruce  and  the 
Colorado  blue  spruce,  Nordmann's  fir  and 
the  Colorado  fir.  These  are  all  hardy  and 
of  rapid  growth.  But  avoid  planting  tall 
evergreens  near  the  house,  for  their  dense 
foliage  shuts  out  sun  and  light,  and  gloomy 
rooms  are  the  result. 

The  end  of  August  is  the  best  time  to 
shear  arbor  vitae,  spruce,  box  trees,  hem- 
locks, retinispora,  and,  in  fact,  all  ever- 
greens. By  this  time  they  have  completed 
their  new  growth,  and  will  have  time  before 
the  cold  weather  begins  to  recover  from  the 
shearing,  which  sets  them  back  somewhat. 
The  shearing  not  only  preserves  the  natural 
shape  of  these  trees,  but  causes  them  to 
grow  thicker  and  handsomer. 

After  your  horse  and  dog,  there  is  noth- 
ing that  can  better  inspire  love  than  a  beau- 
tiful tree  which  you  have  yourself  planted, 
pruned  and  cared  for.  If  undisturbed,  the 
life  of  the  tree  will  go  on  for  generations 
after  the  short  span  of  human  years  has 
123 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

come  to  an  end,  and  will  be  a  comfort  and 
a  blessing  to  your  children's  children.  Sit- 
ting in  its  grateful  shade  in  Summer,  the 
rustling  leaves  will  tell  to  the  imagination 
tales  of  the  one  who  planted  it  and  of  those 
whose  lives  have  been  lived  beside  it,  and 
in  Winter  its  bare  brown  arms  stretching 
against  the  sky  will  speak  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  year  and  the  coming  Springtime, 
when  green  leaves  will  crown  it  anew,  and 
bring  the  reminder,  "though  dead  yet  shall 
ye  live." 

The  following  lists  of  a  few  useful  trees 
and  shrubs  may  be  of  service  to  the  reader: 

Six  VERY  SATISFACTORY  TREES  WHICH  ARE  COMPARATIVELY  FREE 
FROM  THE  ATTACKS  OF  INSECTS,  LIVING  TO  GREAT 

AGE,  AND  GIVING  FINE  SHADE,  ARE  : 
Oak, 
Locust, 
Tulip, 

Copper  Beech, 
White  Birch, 
American  Ash. 


TREES 

Six  SHRUBS  THAT  ARE  HARDY,  RAPID  GROWING,  ATTAIN  LARGE 
SIZE  AND  BEAR  BEAUTIFUL  FLOWERS.  ARE  : 

White  and  purple  Lilac,  French  varieties, 

Japanese  Quince, 

Syringa  grandiflora, 

Althea  Jeanne  d'Arc,  pure  white, 

Deutzia  graeillis, 

The  native  Azaleas  from  North  Carolina, 
particularly  the  Arborescens,  white, 
Arborescens  rosea,  pink,  and  lutea,  flame  color. 

These  Azaleas  should  be  given  a  northern 
exposure  and  heavily  mulched  in  Winter 
with  evergreen  boughs  driven  in  among 
them. 

FOUR  OF  THE  BEST  HARDY  TALL  GROWING   EVERGREENS,  ARE  : 

Colorado  Blue  Spruce, 
Colorado  Fir, 
Hemlock, 
White  Pine. 

FOUR  OF  THE  BEST  HARDY  EVERGREENS  FOR  USE  IN  A  FORMAL 
GARDEN,  ALL  OF  THEM   PYRAMIDAL  IN  FORM,  ARE  : 

Native  Cedars, 

Thuja  pyramidalis  (Arbor  Vitae), 

Abies  pyramidalis, 

Thuya  Vervaeneana. 

125 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

FIVE  HARDY  SHRUBS  GROWING  ABOUT  Six  FEET  IN  HEIGHT 
BEARING  HANDSOME  FLOWERS  OR  BERRIES,  ARE  : 

Hydrangea  grandiflora  paniculata, 

Oak  leaved  Hydrangea, 

Lonicera  alba,  standard  Honeysuckle, 

Viburnum  plicatum,  Japanese  Snowball, 

Berberis  Thunbergii— Barberry, 

Rose  Acacia. 

Six  OF  THE  HARDIEST  VINES  THAT  WILL  WITHSTAND  VERY  Low 

•     TEMPERATURE,  ARE  : 
Bitter  Sweet, 
Clematis  Paniculata, 
Enonymus  Radicans  (Evergreen), 
Sweet  Scented  Wild  Grape  (Vitis  Odorata), 
Virginia  Creeper, 
Wistaria. 


126 


Thuja  Vervaeneana 
August  twelfth 


PERENNIALS   AND 
OTHER  FLOWERS 


CHAPTER  V 

PERENNIALS  AND  OTHER  FLOWERS 

WHEN  one  whose  experience  in  gar- 
dening has  been  bounded  by  a  few 
varieties  of  bedding-out  plants  like  Gera- 
niums, Coleus,  Salvias,  and  Petunias,  begins 
to  plant  perennials,  she  is  apt  to  be  disap- 
pointed with  the  first  year's  results.  She 
has  seen  great  clumps  of  perennials  in  a 
friend's  garden,  has  read  of  their  beauty, 
has  seen  pictures  of  them  in  catalogues,  but 
when  her  Paeonies  bear  no  blossoms,  her 
Phlox  has  only  two  or  three  heads  of  bloom, 
the  Larkspur  one  or  two  spikes  of  varied 
blue,  and  the  Valerian,  Veronica,  Monks- 
hood,  and  Hollyhocks  all  flower  sparingly, 
she  cries  in  her  heart  for  the  bedding-out 
plants  which  were  her  mainstay  in  former 
years.  Let  her  have  patience,  however,  and 
129 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

wait  for  the  second  Summer  of  the  peren- 
nials. Coleus  will  then  no  longer  find  a 
place  in  her  garden,  and  the  number  of 
Geraniums  planted  will  be  reduced  to  a 
minimum. 

Would  that  the  Coleus  might  vanish  from 
the  land!  But,  after  all,  it  is  not  the  plants, 
poor  things,  but  the  people  who  grow  them 
who  are  to  blame. 

Geraniums  cannot  be  condemned  to  the 
same  extent,  for  they  bear  flowers,  and 
have  besides  done  valuable  service  during 
all  the  years  when  gardening  consisted 
largely  of  beds  of  every  conceivable  shape, 
filled  with  them,  of  one  color  or  another. 
They  do  not  reach  perfection  before  July, 
and  die  with  the  coming  of  the  early  frost. 

No  matter  how  small  may  be  the  place 
devoted  to  flowers,  plant  it  with  perennials, 
fill  in  the  chinks  with  hardy  annuals  raised 
from  seed,  and  there  will  be  flowers  of  many 
varieties  to  bloom  from  May  to  November. 

Perennials  increase  in  size  and  beauty 
130 


PERENNIALS 

from  year  to  year,  and  by  separating  the 
roots  when  well  grown,  the  stock  can  be 
increased  indefinitely.  The  same  money 
formerly  spent  upon  bedding-out  plants  will 
buy  bulbs,  perennials  and  shrubs  in  quan- 
tities, which  will  beautify  your  grounds  to 
an  extent  undreamed  of  in  the  days  when 
the  bedding-out  plants  held  masterful  sway 
in  this  country. 

This  year  nearly  all  the  Larkspurs  in  my 
garden  were  seven  feet  tall,  and  many  of 
the  plants  grew  so  large  that  a  man  unaided 
could  not  reach  around  them  to  tie  to  the 
necessary  stakes;  and  there  were  also  seven 
shades  of  blue  among  them;  the  Hollyhocks 
sent  up  five  and  six  great  stalks,  many  of 
them  eight  feet  in  height;  the  Boconia  cor- 
data  rose  far  above  a  tall  man's  head;  the 
Spiraea  aruncus  was  six  feet  high;  Cardinal 
flowers,  Phlox,  and  many  Lilies  grew  to 
unusual  sizes,  and  nearly  all  the  flowers  blos- 
somed before  their  accustomed  time;  in  fact, 
all  plants  that  survived  the  great  severity  of 
131 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

the  previous  Winter  seemed  to  have  benefited 
from  the  cold. 

Last  Winter  many  hardy  plants  that  per- 
ished in  our  part  of  the  country  lived  under 
equally  low  temperatures  in  other  places. 
Evidently  these  particular  plants  were  not 
accustomed  to  the  unusually  low  tempera- 
ture, zero  or  a  few  degrees  below  having 
been  the  maximum  of  cold  they  had  pre- 
viously experienced,  while  in  other  places, 
although  as  cold,  or  even  colder,  the  tem- 
perature did  not,  as  with  us,  fall  below  that 
of  previous  Winters.  Foxgloves  and  Can- 
terbury Bells,  usually  entirely  hardy,  suf- 
fered greatly;  so  did  the  Gaillardias;  the 
Helianthus  ftorus  plenus  was  killed;  but 
Tritomas,  young  plants,  too,  not  considered 
very  hardy,  came  finely  through  the  Win- 
ter, the  foot  of  mulch  with  which  they  were 
covered  having  completely  protected  them. 

There  is  no  more  decorative  plant  for 
tropical  effect  that  can  be  grown  in  the 
front  of  a  shrubbery  or  planted  at  the  back 


Vase  of  Campanula  Pyramidalis 
August  twenty-first 


PERENNIALS 

of  a  border  than  Boconia  cordata.  The 
leaves,  immense  in  size  and  beautifully  in- 
dented, are  rather  a  bluish-green  in  color, 
and  each  stalk  bears  a  plume  of  feathery 
white  blossoms,  often  eighteen  inches  long. 
The  first  year,  this  plant  may  not  be  taller 
than  three  or  four  feet,  but  seen  when  two 
or  three  years  old,  no  gardener  will  be  with- 
out it.  The  roots  can  be  separated  and  it 
can  be  grown  easily  from  seed. 

Last  September  I  made  acquaintance  at 
Botzen,  in  the  Austrian  Tyrol,  with  a  plant 
of  exceeding  beauty.  Arriving  late  one 
warm  afternoon  after  a  tiresome  journey, 
we  came  into  the  cool,  shaded,  white  marble 
hall  of  the  hotel,  and  on  either  side  of  the 
foot  of  a  fine  stairway,  rising  from  a  bank 
of  Maidenhair  fern  with  a  background  of 
Palms,  was  a  new  plant.  Slender  stalks, 
quite  six  feet  high,  whose  entire  length  was 
covered  either  with  white  or  palest  blue  bell- 
like  flowers,  rose  against  the  green  of  the 
palms.  I  began  to  ask  questions  in  my 
133 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

rather  imperfect  German  before  going  to 
my  room,  and  the  wondering  hotel  clerk, 
who  doubtless  thought  another  mad  Amer- 
ican had  appeared  to  cloud  his  serene  hori- 
zon, could  give  no  information  about  them 
beyond  saying  that  they  were  supplied  to 
the  hotel  by  a  florist  whose  address  he  would 
give  me. 

The  next  morning,  an  early  expedition  was 
made  to  the  florist's  garden,  where  we  found 
the  admired  plant  in  all  stages  of  growth. 
But  the  gardener  was  crusty,  and  even  a 
generous  douceur  had  little  softening  effect. 
He  had  no  seeds;  he  was  not  sure  where  he 
bought  the  seeds;  the  plant  did  not  bear  the 
tall  stalks  until  two  years  old  if  wintered  in 
a  cold  frame,  or  three  years  if  grown  in  the 
open  ground  and  protected  in  Winter  by  a 
heavy  mulch;  and,  last  of  all,  the  name  of 
the  plant,  Campanula  pyramidalis,  was 
dragged  from  him.  I  determined  to  have 
these  flowers  in  my  garden,  and  set  about 
their  pursuit  at  once  upon  my  return. 
134 


PERENNIALS 

Seeds  of  these  plants,  whose  common  name 
is  Chimney  Bell  flower,  are  listed  in  many 
catalogues,  but  my  impatience  to  have  the 
plants  blooming  in  the  garden  was  too  great 
for  me  to  wait  the  two  or  three  years  nec- 
essary for  raising  them.  This  Spring  I  was 
able  to  make  a  beginning  with  only  two 
dozen;  and  they  have  done  fairly  well,  but 
do  not  compare  with  the  wonderful  plants 
of  Botzen.  They  were  attacked  by  the  same 
white  grub  that  is  the  enemy  of  the  Lark- 
spur, and  six  were  destroyed  before  I  knew 
it,  but  coal  ashes  lightly  dug  into  the  ground 
around  them  with  a  small  trowel  proved  a 
specific.  The  flowers  appeared  the  first  of 
August,  and  continued  to  bloom  for  more 
than  six  weeks,  but  the  stalks  were  only 
four  feet  high  and  the  best  plant  bore  but 
five  of  them. 

From  the  middle  of  June  until  the  third 

week  of  July,  Penstemon  barbatus  Torreyi, 

which   has   a    small   flower   of   vivid    scarlet 

growing  on  tall,  slender  spikes  that  in  their 

135 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

second  year  have  reached  six  feet  in  height, 
makes  a  brilliant  patch  of  color  in  a  border 
and  attracts  much  attention. 

Penstemon  Digitalis  has  heads  of  white 
flowers  fully  nine  inches  long,  is  a  plant 
which  blooms  all  through  July,  is  hardy, 
increases  rapidly,  and  is  most  effective. 

Another  hardy  white  flower,  about  as 
large  as  a  twenty-five  cent  piece,  with  a  pale 
pink  center,  which  grows  on  long  stems,  is 
Agrostema  alba.  The  plant  is  about  three 
feet  in  height,  and  has  somewhat  sparse 
gray-green  foliage.  New  flower-buds  form 
continually  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves;  if  the 
flowers  are  cut  as  soon  as  withered  the  plant 
seems  to  bloom  indefinitely,  and  is  valuable 
for  this  reason.  I  have  amused  myself 
during  this  Summer  by  cutting  the  faded 
flowers  from  a  clump  of  these  plants  and 
from  one  of  Centaurea,  with  the  result  that 
they  have  continued  to  bloom  profusely 
from  June  until  the  middle  of  September. 

Every  gardener  knows  the  value  of  not 
136 


PERENNIALS 

allowing  the  seed  pods  to  form  and  weary 
the  plant  by  taking  the  strength  that  other- 
wise would  go  to  new  root-formation.  In 
fact,  every  plant  that  blossoms  is  benefited 
by  cutting,  which  enables  it  to  produce 
flowers  in  greater  abundance,  and  to  make 
larger  root  growth. 

Dictamus  fraxinella,  both  the  white  and 
pink,  with  particularly  beautiful  glossy  foli- 
age, are  valuable  plants.  Absolutely  hardy, 
the  roots  increase  rapidly,  and  may  be  sep- 
arated from  time  to  time.  The  flowers  blos- 
som the  end  of  May  and  are  borne  on 
strong  stems  in  panicles  about  eight  inches 
long. 

The  new  varieties  of  hardy  Carnations, 
such  as  the  Margaret  and  the  Perpetual, 
produce  most  creditable  flowers,  not  so  large, 
certainly,  as  the  many  beauties  that  the 
florist's  art  brings  forth,  like  "Mrs.  Lawson" 
and  "Fiancee,"  but  quite  fine  enough  in 
form  and  color  to  satisfy  the  grower  of 
hardy  plants.  Sow  the  seeds  in  early  May, 
137 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

in  finely  pulverized,  rich  soil,  with  which  a 
little  bone  meal  has  been  incorporated,  and 
about  the  first  of  September  transplant  them 
to  the  places  where  they  are  to  remain. 
The  seeds  are  very  sure  to  germinate,  and 
an  ounce  will  raise  a  large  number  of  plants. 
I  keep  mine  in  long  rows  so  that  a  cultivator 
may  be  run  between  them.  The  plants  can 
be  set  out  about  eight  inches  apart,  and 
should  be  tied  to  stakes,  as  the  stems  grow 
very  long.  If  carnations  are  well  watered 
from  the  moment  the  first  sign  of  a  bud 
appears,  they  will  not  only  be  more  prolific 
in  bearing,  but  the  flowers  will  be  larger,  just 
as  the  Japanese  Iris  repays  a  thorough 
drenching  several  times  a  week.  After  three 
years  it  is  a  good  plan  to  raise  fresh  Car- 
nations, as  the  flowers  become  small  and  the 
blossoms  scarce.  Cover  the  plants  with  some 
leaves  or  litter  in  November,  when  the  rest 
of  the  garden  is  put  to  sleep. 

Perennial   Lupins,   both   blue   and   white, 
blossom  freely  in  early  June,  growing  from 
138 


Vase  of  Giant  White  Poppies 
July  tenth 


PERENNIALS 

two  to  three  feet  in  height,  and  are  hardy 
and  effective.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  soak 
the  Lupin  seed  for  twenty-four  hours  be- 
fore sowing,  which  should  be  done  in  mid- 
April. 

Liatris,  a  plant  growing  about  five  feet 
in  height,  bears  immense  spikes  of  light 
purple  flowers  and  continues  in  bloom 
throughout  August. 

Veronica  longifolia  blossoms  during  Au- 
gust and  is  one  of  the  handsomest  blue 
flowers  in  the  garden,  in  fact,  after  the 
Larkspurs,  probably  the  handsomest.  The 
plant  is  perfectly  hardy  and  increases  rap- 
idly. Like  the  Phlox,  every  shoot  bears  a 
spike  of  fine  blossoms  nearly  a  foot  in 
length;  these  are  of  a  beautiful  blue  color. 
The  common  name  of  the  flower  is  "Speed- 
well," and  I  never  see  it  without  thinking 
of  Austin  Dobson's  poem,  "Sing  Blue  of 
Speedwell  and  my  love's  eyes." 

Another  blue  flower  that  is  but  little 
grown,  is  Greek  Valerian,  a  plant  about  a 
139 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

foot  high,  which  is  so  completely  covered 
about  the  end  of  May  with  delicate  blue 
flowers  as  to  be  like  a  bit  of  sky  fallen  into 
the  border.  I  have  but  one  plant,  sent  me 
from  her  garden  by  a  friend  whom  I  have 
never  seen. 

Another  lady  whom  I  have  not  the  pleas- 
ure of  knowing,  very  kindly  sent  me  some 
seeds  a  year  ago.  The  name  and  the  de- 
scription of  the  flowers  which  the  seeds 
should  produce  were  lost,  but  the  seeds  were 
sown  in  May,  came  up  quickly  and  during 
the  summer,  grew  to  be  large  strong  plants. 
Set  out  in  beds  in  the  Autumn,  they  came 
unharmed  through  the  severe  Winter  and  in 
the  Spring  grew  to  be  four  feet  high  with 
strong,  wide-spreading  branches.  They  were 
rather  a  disappointment,  for  the  flowers 
seemed  to  be  only  faded,  yellow  morning 
glories.  But  the  first  evening  late  in  May, 
when  the  weather  was  warm  enough  to  en- 
tice us  into  the  garden  after  dinner,  there 
stood  the  great  plants  covered  with  a  mass 
140 


PERENNIALS 

of  flowers  of  delicate  texture,  larger  than 
the  largest  Japanese  Morning  Glory,  and  of 
a  pale  yellow  color.  They  bloomed  continu- 
ously for  over  two  months,  and  were  nightly 
objects  of  comment  and  admiration  by  all 
who  saw  them.  They  were  the  Oenothera 
lamarchiana  or  Evening  Primrose,  and  I 
am  told  it  is  unusual  for  the  plants  to  grow 
so  large.  They  appear  to  best  advantage 
when  planted  in  front  of  low  growing  ever- 
greens, whose  impenetrable  foliage  gives 
them  an  effective  background. 

By  the  third  year  the  Platycodons  become 
large,  strong  plants,  quite  three  feet  high, 
each  bearing  possibly  a  hundred  blossoms. 
When  planted  in  clumps  of  three  or  four  to- 
gether they  are  very  effective.  Their  period 
of  bloom  lasts  from  the  middle  of  July  for 
a  month  or  more,  the  blossoms  appearing 
when  the  Larkspurs  are  first  cut  down  and 
continuing  well  into  the  reign  of  the  Vero- 
nica longifolia. 

Boltonias  are  also  effective  plants  for  the 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

edges  of  shrubberies.  They  grow  from  four 
to  six  feet  in  height,  and  from  the  middle  of 
August  to  the  middle  of  September  are  a 
mass  of  blossoms  which  are  quite  like  the 
small  wild  Asters.  The  white  variety  is 
Boltonia  glastifolia,  and  the  pale  pink,  Bol- 
tonia  latisquama. 

Besides  the  Boltonias,  the  following  hardy 
plants  flourish  and  look  well  on  the  edges  of 
shrubberies:  Boconia  cordata;  Hollyhocks; 
Jerusalem  Artichoke,  which  grows  eight  feet 
tall  and  bears  single  yellow  flowers  late  in 
September  and  through  October;  Marsh- 
mallow  (Hibiscus  moscheutos) ;  Japanese 
Tree  Paeonies;  Columbines;  Trilliums; 
Oriental  Poppies,  and  hardy  Sunflowers. 
Various  clumps  of  these  plants  will  give 
successive  bloom  and  color  in  front  of  the 
shrubbery  from  May  until  November. 

Several  years  ago,  when  planting  a  new 
garden  I  decided  to  have  the  flowers  in 
each  border  of  one  color  only.  A  friend  to 


PERENNIALS 

whom  I  confided  the  scheme  said  it  would 
not  be  successful;  that  when  the  blue  border 
was  in  its  prime,  the  pink  one  would  be 
without  flowers,  in  fact,  that  the  four  bor- 
ders would  never  be  equally  handsome  or 
all  in  such  a  condition  at  the  same  time, 
that  their  color  would  at  once  strike  the 
eye.  But  this  has  proved  to  be  a  mistake. 
The  borders  are  always  full  of  color  from 
the  end  of  May  until  everything  is  killed 
by  the  frost. 

At  the  back  of  each  of  the  borders  Holly- 
hocks were  planted  closely  together,  white  in 
the  white  border,  pink  and  red  in  the  bor- 
ders for  those  colors,  and,  as  I  know  of  no 
blue  Hollyhocks,  pale  yellow  ones  were  put 
at  the  back  of  the  blue  border.  Other  plants 
were  set  in  clumps  of  four  to  six,  with  four 
or  more  clumps  of  each  kind.  Summer 
flowering  bulbs  and  annuals  were  then 
planted  about  the  first  of  June  in  all  the 
crevices  to  help  out  late  August  and  Sep- 
tember. 

143 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

In  the  blue  border  were  blue  Columbines; 
the  one  plant  of  Greek  Valerian,  which  was 
blue  for  a  month;  then  there  were  German 
and  Japanese  Iris,  Larkspur  in  many  shades 
of  blue,  each  of  which  gave  three  crops  of 
flowers  by  cutting  each  stalk  as  soon  as  it 
ceased  to  bloom;  blue  Canterbury  Bells 
(Campanula  glomerata  and  Campanula  ma- 
cranihd)  ;  Scdbiosa  Caucasia;  Platycodon; 
Veronica,  and  Monkshood.  Still  another 
hardy  plant  with  blue  flowers  was  Verbena 
venosa,  which  will  either  grow  about  eight- 
een inches  high  or  can  be  pegged  down  and 
will  during  three  or  four  months  cover  the 
ground  with  its  heads  of  blue  flowers.  As 
annuals,  I  planted  Ageratum,  which  had 
been  raised  from  seeds  sown  in  hot-beds 
the  first  of  March;  pale  blue  Centauria, 
Emperor  William  Centauria,  and  blue  As- 
ters. 

The  pink  border  had  Spiraea  palmata 
elegans;  a  number  of  clumps  of  pink  Phlox, 
each  clump  of  a  different  shade;  Lilium 
144 


PERENNIALS 

rubrum;  Agrostema;  Carnations;  and  for 
annuals,  pale  pink  Balsam;  Asters;  Phlox 
Drummondi;  and  a  quantity  of  pink  Glad- 
ioli, which  were  planted  about  the  10th  of 
June. 

The  white  border  had  three  clumps  of 
Boconia  cordata;  a  quantity  of  Foxgloves, 
planted  in  the  back  close  against  the 
Hollyhocks;  white  Canterbury  Bells;  several 
clumps  of  HyacintTius  candicans;  white 
Platycodons;  four  great  clumps  of  Japa- 
nese Iris,  which  are  beautiful  objects  for  a 
month;  white  Phlox  of  both  early  and  late 
varieties.  As  the  flowers  in  these  borders 
are  kept  only  for  show,  by  breaking  off  the 
heads  of  the  Phlox  immediately  upon  their 
ceasing  to  bloom,  the  Phlox  seems  always  to 
be  in  blossom.  There  were  also  white  Rock- 
ets; a  quantity  of  Valerian;  white  Colum- 
bine, and  a  number  of  Lilium  album.  White 
Balsam,  Asters,  Sweet  Sultan,  and  Gladioli 
were  also  planted. 

The  red  border  was  more  difficult  to  ar- 
145 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

range  because  of  the  many  shades  of  red; 
but  in  nature  these  do  not  seem  to  clash  as 
so  often  do  the  different  shades  of  the  same 
artificial  color.  There  were  scarlet  Lychnis 
and  also  Cardinal  flowers,  which  seemed  to 
flourish  there  as  well  as  in  their  native  haunt 
by  the  stream;  the  red  Penstemon;  Spirae 
palmata;  Tritoma  Pfitzeriij  which  begins  to 
bloom  in  July  and  continues  until  the  frost 
lays  it  low;  Phlox  of  the  variety  Cocliquot, 
which  is  a  mass  of  scarlet.  Some  Poppy 
seeds  thrown  in  here  and  there  in  early 
Spring  gave  many  gorgeous  blossoms  in 
July,  coming  up  at  random  among  the 
other  plants.  Several  clumps  of  Salvias  and 
some  bright  red  Cannas  gave  continuous 
bloom,  and  red  Asters,  Cockscomb,  and  scar- 
let Gladioli  helped  to  make  brilliant  color 
for  the  September  garden. 

These  borders  are,  each  of  them,  four 
feet  wide  and  seventy-five  feet  long  and 
hold  many  plants. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  no  yellow  and  no 
146 


Boconia  Cordata 
July  seventeenth 


PERENNIALS 

purple  flowers  were  admitted  to  any  of 
these  borders.  In  another  garden  it  will  be 
interesting  to  arrange  these  colors  in  the 
same  way.  But  so  many  flowers  are 
excluded  by  this  treatment  of  colors,  that 
borders  thus  planted  would  be  a  very  in- 
complete garden  by  themselves. 

It  is  also  interesting  to  watch  the  differ- 
ent color  phases  of  the  garden  and  to  see 
how  certain  colors  predominate  at  certain 
times.  For  instance,  at  the  end  of  May 
and  for  about  three  weeks,  pink,  white,  and 
deep  reds  dominate  all  the  other  colors  in 
our  gardens.  There  are  in  blossom  at  that 
time  Syringas,  Spirae  Von  Houttei,  hardy 
Poppies,  Paeonies,  Foxgloves,  Sweet  Wil- 
liam, and  the  hardy  Roses; — each  of  these 
flowers  in  large  quantities. 

As  these  gradually  pass,  we  become  aware 

that  blue  and  white  flowers  are  prevailing; 

there     are     Canterbury     Bells,     Foxgloves, 

Japanese    Iris,    Centauria,    and    the    great 

147 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

Larkspurs.  Then  suddenly  along  in  July, 
the  color  scheme  becomes  red  and  white; 
Poppies,  Phlox,  Crimson  Ramblers,  Pen- 
stemon,  Lychnis,  Salvias,  Cannas,  the  tall 
white  Auratums,  Boconia  cordata,  and  Iris. 

Then  for  a  time  no  one  color  makes 
itself  felt,  but  all  prevail  equally  until  in 
late  August,  when  white  and  yellow  be- 
come dominant;  white  Lilies,  Hydrangeas, 
and  Altheas;  Rudbeckia,  waving  its  great 
branches  of  golden  blossoms  in  every  breeze; 
lovely  Calendula  in  many  shades  of  yellow; 
tall,  flaunting,  orange  Marigolds;  Sun- 
flowers; Coreopsis,  and  Gaillardias. 

And  when,  at  last,  the  relentless  frost 
comes  to  blacken  and  destroy  our  garden 
by  one  cold  night,  the  colors  seem  more 
glorious  and  varied  than  at  any  other  time; 
and  Cannas,  Gladioli,  Salvias,  late  Lilies, 
the  third  blossoming  of  the  brave  Lark- 
spurs; Gaillardias;  Phlox;  hardy  Sun- 
flowers, and  many  annuals  are  in  their 
prime. 

148 


PERENNIALS 

But  the  Japanese  Anemones,  the  Chrys- 
anthemums, Monkshood,  and  some  faithful 
Roses  stay  by  us  until  quite  thick  ice  has 
formed.  If  you  have  a  few  plants  each  of 
Madam  Plantier,  Clotile  Soupert,  pink  Sou- 
pert,  La  France,  Mrs.  Lang  and  the  Jubilee 
Roses,  you  will  be  able  to  cut  a  handful  of 
these  flowers  every  day  from  the  end  of 
May  until  late  in  the  Autumn. 

The  annuals  come  in  most  successfully  for 
filling  in  among  perennials  and  for  giving 
flowers  in  late  Autumn; — such  as  Asters,  of 
which  one  can  never  have  too  many,  Zinnias, 
Cosmos,  Cockscomb,  Centauria,  Sweet  Sul- 
tan, Phlox  Drummondi,  Calendulas,  Balsam, 
the  pale  pink  and  the  white,  whose  flowers 
are  as  large  as  Camelias;  Snap  Dragon, 
and  Stocks.  These  last  two  plants  should 
be  started  very  early  and  are  most  effective 
when  set  in  large  masses.  I  buy  only  the 
seeds  of  white  Stocks,  but,  alas!  there  are 
always  purple  ones  among  them,  as  mistakes 
149 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

are   sometimes   made   by   the    most    careful 
seedsmen. 

Godetias  are  valuable  annuals,  giving  for 
the  three  months  from  June  until  September 
continuous  bloom  in  purple,  red  and  white 
flowers,  white  blotched  with  red,  and  pink 
spotted  with  crimson.  They  should  be  set 
a  foot  apart  and  do  well  in  a  somewhat 
poor  soil  and  in  partially  shaded  places.  If 
the  seed  pods  are  cut  continually  they  make 
a  long  period  of  bloom  and  are  as  satisfac- 
tory in  a  border  as  Phlox  Drummondi. 

In  a  bed  containing  three  dozen  plants  of 
Tritoma  Pfitzirii,  set  two  feet  and  a  half 
apart  to  give  full  room  to  spread  out  as 
they  became  large,  I  planted  scarlet  Zinnias 
to  fill  up  the  rather  sad-looking  bed  for  the 
first  Summer.  Imagine  the  horrible  effect 
when  in  mid-July  both  plants  began  to 
bloom  at  the  same  time — Tritomas  orange 
scarlet  and  Zinnias  salmon  pink.  Suppos- 
edly scarlet  Zinnia  seed  had  been  sown,  but 
it  proved  upon  blossoming  to  be  pink. 
150 


Vase  of  Plalycodon 
July  tenth 


PERENNIALS 

Seeds  of  Hollyhocks  often  fail  to  produce 
flowers  like  those  of  the  original  plant  from 
which  they  were  taken,  as  the  bees  probably 
mix  the  pollen.  And  self-sown  Phlox  is 
almost  sure  to  revert  to  the  original  purple. 

Every  year  when  the  Phlox  blooms  I  find 
purple  and  magenta  blossoming  against  scar- 
let and  pink,  and,  because  it  is  not  possible 
for  me  to  root  out  a  plant  in  flower,  I  tie 
strips  of  black  cambric  low  down  around  the 
stems  of  such  plants,  that  they  may  be 
recognized  and  removed  when  the  Autumn 
work  is  being  done.  If,  however,  all  the 
purple  Phloxes  are  placed  somewhere  in  a 
mass,  together  with  a  quantity  of  the  white, 
they  become  at  once  an  object  of  unusual 
beauty. 

The  seeds  of  Salvias  germinate  easily  and 
by  sowing  them  in  a  hot-bed  or  in  a  box  in 
a  sunny  window  early  in  March,  plants 
can  easily  be  raised  which  should  begin  to 
blossom  the  end  of  June.  The  seeds  may 
even  be  sown  in  finely  pulverized  soil  in  the 
151 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

open  ground  by  the  middle  of  April,  if 
given  some  protection  on  frosty  nights,  and 
the  plants  will  begin  to  bloom  in  August. 

In  a  bed  where  Salvias  bloomed  last  year, 
Lillium  album  were  planted  the  first  week 
in  April  among  Tulips  that  were  just  put- 
ting up  their  green  heads,  so  that  the  soil 
was  disturbed  as  little  as  possible.  Later, 
white  Asters  were  planted  in  the  same  bed 
wherever  there  was  space.  When  the  time 
arrived  for  the  first  weeding  of  this  bed, 
forty  seedling  Salvia  plants  were  taken  from 
it.  The  seeds  had  fallen  the  Autumn  be- 
fore, and  the  germ  of  life  had  survived  the 
long,  cold  Winter. 

If  anyone  is  so  fortunate  as  to  have  a 
stream  running  through  her  place  or  a  small 
pond,  let  her  rejoice  greatly  and  see  what 
beauty  she  can  develop  around  it.  The  ef- 
fect should  be  natural,  as  if  the  hand  of 
man  had  taken  no  part  therein.  Willows 
should  be  planted  first  for  the  background, 
152 


PERENNIALS 

and  then  great  clumps  of  Rhododendrons. 
The  tall  grass  Arondo  donax,  the  tall  and 
tropical-like  Boconia  cordata,  Japanese  Iris, 
white  Lysimachia,  commonly  called  "Loose- 
strife"; Hibiscus,  red  Bee  Balm,  Eupato- 
rium,  tall-growing  with  large  heads  of  old- 
rose-colored  flowers,  Cardinal  flower  and 
Ferns  from  wet  places  are  a  few  of  the 
hardy  plants  that  will  flourish  in  such  a 
situation. 

The  Water  Hyacinths,  and  the  double- 
flowering  Arrow-head,  which  bears  white 
blossoms  on  spikes  two  feet  tall,  can  be 
grown  on  the  very  edge  of  the  pond  where 
the  water  is  only  two  or  three  inches  deep. 
In  planting,  firm  the  roots  well  into  the 
mud. 

Of  hardy  Water  Lilies,  the  English 
Nympliae  flava,  NympTiae  odorata  rosea,  the 
Cape  Cod  Water  Lily,  deep  pink  in  color, 
with  the  Nymphae  odorata,  our  native  white 
Water  Lily,  should  give  the  amateur  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  aquatics  with  which  to 
153 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

begin  the  water  garden.  The  Nymphae 
should  be  planted  about  the  15th  of  May. 
It  is  generally  enough  to  press  the  root  well 
into  the  soil  of  the  pond,  but  if  the  mud 
does  not  seem  to  be  rich,  then  the  Lily  roots 
can  be  planted  in  boxes  of  very  rich  soil  and 
sunk  in  the  pond.  Directions  are  occasion- 
ally given  to  tie  the  root  to  a  stone,  and 
throw  it  into  the  water,  but  the  Lilies  will 
be  more  apt  to  grow  if  planted  directly  into 
the  soil  of  the  pond  or  stream.  These  lilies 
are  hardy  and  can  be  allowed  to  remain  in 
the  water. 

One  can  learn  something  from  almost 
every  garden,  no  matter  how  humble.  In 
walking  about  a  town  or  village,  I  often 
pass  a  simple  door-yard  slowly  two  or  three 
times,  and  sometimes  hang  over  a  fence  to 
see  what  is  within.  There  may  be  plants 
which  I  do  not  know,  or  a  specimen  of  some 
variety  brought  to  a  finer  degree  of  perfec- 
tion than  I  have  ever  been  able  to  attain  with 
154 


PERENNIALS 

the  same  flowers.  A  good  gardener,  like  a 
great  painter,  or  a  fine  musician,  is  always 
lenient  with  the  failures  and  shortcomings  of 
the  beginner.  Knowing  too  well  his  own 
trials  and  struggles,  he  can  sympathize  with 
and  overlook  the  mistakes  of  others.  It  is 
well,  therefore,  never  to  look  with  a  critical 
eye  upon  the  weeds  among  another's  flowers, 
lest  you  should  some  day  become  aware  of 
those  in  your  own  garden. 

It  is,  also,  always  possible  to  find  gardens 
far  more  beautiful  and  more  elaborate  than 
our  own  which  we  have  worked  over  and 
dreamed  about  and  which  is  dear  to  us,  but 
we  can  admire  and  learn  from  the  success  of 
others,  and  still  return  with  a  contented 
heart  to  our  own  little  corner  of  the  earth. 

My  own  garden  lies  in  a  long,  rather  nar- 
row valley,  bounded  on  either  side  by  ranges 
of  high  hills,  which  we  call  "mountains." 
Through  the  center  flows  a  stream,  which 
still  bears  its  mellifluous  Indian  name  Wa- 
wayanda,  because  of  its  curving,  winding 
155 


ANOTHER    HARDY   GARDEN    BOOK 

course  through  the  broad  meadow  lands, 
where  mild-eyed  cattle  graze  in  the  luxurious 
grass.  Great  trees  line  both  its  sides,  and 
on  every  hand  oaks,  black  walnuts,  chest- 
nuts, ash  and  maple  trees  are  interspersed 
with  dark  cedars.  Cultivated  uplands  join 
the  thickly  wooded  hills,  and  the  quiet  beauty 
of  the  scene  so  wins  upon  us  that  when  the 
valley  beautiful  lies  spread  out  before  our 
eyes  upon  returning  from  journeys  across 
the  sea,  we  give  thanks  that  our  lives  have 
been  cast  in  so  lovely  a  spot. 

At  the  upper  end  of  the  valley  is  a  pros- 
perous, busy  town,  with  handsome  country 
places,  inn,  golf  club,  and  much  of  the 
environment  of  modern  existence.  In  Sum- 
mer, life  goes  merrily  with  the  people  there, 
who  drive  gaily  about  in  all  manner  of 
equipages,  clad  in  fair  attire.  This  is  all 
very  attractive;  but  a  spirit  of  greater  charm 
surrounds  a  little  hamlet  some  miles  down 
the  valley  where  it  broadens  so  as  to  be  no 
longer  narrow.  Here  a  few  quaint  houses 
156 


PERENNIALS 

straggle  along  the  roadside,  tall  trees  tower 
above  their  roofs,  and  gardens  surround 
them,  where  great  bushes  of  Box  and  clumps 
of  grandmother's  flowers  are  grown.  Time 
has  left  the  hamlet  untouched.  No  noise,  no 
hurry,  no  bustle  disturb  the  atmosphere. 
Life  goes  gently  there  and  peace  seems  to 
brood  over  it  with  folded  wings. 

Back  from  the  street,  surrounded  by  a 
shady  lawn,  is  the  tiny  church  with  raftered 
ceiling  where  our  family  has  worshipped  for 
generations;  a  church  where  twenty  people 
are  a  fair  congregation;  where  each  has 
from  childhood  known  the  older  people,  and 
seen  the  young  men  and  women  brought  as 
babies  to  be  christened;  and  where  for  many 
years  the  rector  has  been  a  dear  old  man 
with  snowy  hair,  beloved  by  all,  who  also 
give  him  from  their  hearts  the  affectionate 
title  "Father."  He  knows  the  hopes  and 
fears,  trials  and  joys  of  all  his  flock  and 
makes  their  joys  and  sorrows  his.  The  ser- 
vice over,  the  congregation  waits  to  take  his 
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ANOTHER   HARDY   GARDEN    BOOK 

hand  and  to  greet  one  another  before  part- 
ing for  the  week.  Some  walk  to  their  near- 
by homes  and  others  drive  away  for  miles 
over  the  hills  to  their  houses  on  distant 
farms. 

Behind  the  church  are  sheds  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  horses  of  those  who  drive. 
Frequently  I  drive  myself  in  a  low  phaeton 
to  the  church,  and  my  own  mare,  an  animal 
of  great  intelligence  whom  no  one  else  is 
allowed  to  use,  understands  perfectly  when 
Sunday  comes,  and  almost  without  guidance 
makes  straight  for  the  little  village  and  the 
tiny  church.  She  is  a  creature  of  superior 
and  somewhat  haughty  manners,  and  not 
only  domineers  the  other  horses  in  the  home 
stable,  but  fairly  browbeats  those  with  whom 
she  comes  in  contact  in  the  church  sheds. 
They,  faithful  creatures,  mow  great  fields  of 
hay,  plow,  and  draw  heavy  loads,  and  the 
light  task  of  taking  their  families  to  church 
makes  Sunday  for  them  a  day  of  rest.  My 
petted  animal  hears  their  tales  of  the  hard 
158 


Vase  of  Dictamnus 
May  twenty-fifth 


PERENNIALS 

week's  work,  and  recounts  to  them  her  life 
of  ease,  telling  how  her  only  labor  is  to 
take  her  mistress  upon  pleasure  drives.  But 
last  Summer  her  pride  met  with  a  downfall 
and  her  haughty  spirit  was  brought  low. 
The  weather  being  very  warm,  I  bought  her 
a  hat,  bound  the  holes  cut  for  her  ears  with 
red  and  adorned  it  further  with  a  gay  red 
chou.  She  wore  it  proudly  for  a  few  days; 
then  came  Sunday.  Out  of  the  church  shed 
she  came  that  day  with  a  sadly  subdued  air; 
seemed  to  have  no  spirit;  hung  her  head, 
and  returned  home  so  dejectedly  that  I 
feared  she  might  be  ill.  The  next  day  the 
united  strength  of  two  men  could  not  put 
on  that  hat.  She  had  been  laughed  at  and 
jeered  at  by  her  companions  in  the  shed  for 
her  frivolity  in  taking  to  millinery,  so  that 
her  pride  was  broken  and  she  learned  the 
lesson  of  meekness. 

The  South  wind  sweeps  up  our  valley  at 
all    seasons,    gently    at    times, — fanning    us 
tenderly  on  warm  Summer  days,  and  giving 
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ANOTHER    HARDY   GARDEN    BOOK 

us  a  soft  zephyr  on  nights  that  without  its 
cooling  breath  would  be  unbearable.  At 
times,  it  deserts  us  for  days,  coquettishly 
allowing  us  to  realize  how  much  we  rely 
upon  it  in  its  milder  moods,  and  again,  when 
vexed,  it  comes  almost  like  a  tornado,  shriek- 
ing aloud  in  its  wrath.  The  great  trees 
sway  and  bend  in  its  blasts,  tall  plants  are 
laid  low,  and  much  damage  is  done  by  its 
rage;  and  because  of  this  south  wind,  tall 
plants  and  young  trees  must  be  well  staked. 
But  much  judgment  is  required  in  tying  up 
the  flowers;  while  due  support  must  be 
given  them,  the  strings  should  never  cut  the 
tender  stalks,  and  a  clump  of  tall-growing 
things  must  not  be  tightly  tied  around  the 
middle  to  produce  the  effect  of  a  slender- 
waisted  young  woman. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  upon  the  question 

of  the  gain  in  health  and  strength  to  those 

who  live  much  in  their  gardens  and  do  active 

work  among  growing  things.     A  couple  of 

160 


May  twenty-fifth 
Vase  of  Columbines 


PERENNIALS 

hours  spent  in  weeding  or  transplanting,  or 
in  tying  up  climbing  Roses  and  vines,  gives 
exercise  to  unused  muscles,  keeps  one  lithe 
and  supple,  and  forbids  the  dreaded  adipose 
.tissue  to  put  in  an  appearance. 

For  those  who  are  "getting  on,"  whatever 
private  opinion  may  be  as  to  that  period, 
garden  exercise  is  a  sure  preserver  of  youth. 
The  arms  are  raised  above  the  head,  one 
bends  from  the  waist,  gets  up  and  down  on 
the  knees,  all  of  which  is  exercise  which  is 
not  work  but  delightful  play.  It  is  won- 
derful, too,  how  large  a  part  of  your  life 
the  love  of  gardening  can  become,  what  an 
absorbing  occupation,  and  what  solace  in 
time  of  sorrow.  A  friend  who  has  had  one 
garden  for  fifty  years,  met  with  a  terrible 
grief  not  long  ago,  and  after  a  few  months 
she  wrote  me,  "You  will  be  glad  to  know 
that  the  Comforter  comes  to  me  more 
directly  through  my  garden  than  through 
any  other  earthly  source." 

Once,  in  Rome,  I  was  taken  painfully  ill 
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ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

after  three  busy  weeks  spent  in  seeing  the 
wonders  and  glories  of  the  city.  Nothing 
gave  me  relief,  I  had  no  rest  by  day,  no 
sleep  by  night.  Even  recalling  to  my  mind 
the  miracles  of  art  recently  seen  could  not 
divert  me  from  the  suffering,  but  thoughts 
of  the  far-away  garden,  its  present  state,  the 
flowers  then  blooming,  what  should  be 
planted  in  the  coming  Autumn,  what  new 
work  should  be  undertaken  in  the  Spring, 
served  as  an  anodyne,  and  brought  to  mind 
some  words  written  years  ago  in  our  house- 
book: 

"When  tides  of  life  run  irk  and  stern, 
Think  of  the  farm  at  Meadowburn." 


162 


A  single  blossom  of  white  Japanese  Iris 
July  fourth 


A  GARDEN  OF  LILIES  AND   IRIS 


CHAPTER   VI 

A  GARDEN  OF  LILIES  AND  IRIS 

SOME  years  ago  I  heard  of  "A  Garden 
of  Lilies,"  a  garden  where  nothing  else 
was  grown.  The  phrase  and  the  description 
of  this  garden  remained  in  my  mind  and  the 
desire  to  have  one  where  Lilies  particularly 
should  be  grown  took  great  hold  of  me.  In 
my  imagination  I  saw  the  tall,  graceful 
stalks  crowned  with  their  beautiful  flowers, 
cut  the  lovely  things  and  breathed  their 
delicious  perfume.  After  reading  all  that  I 
could  find  upon  the  cultivation  of  Lilies,  and 
studying  the  catalogues,  I  finally  made  a 
beginning. 

The  place  where  I  planned  to  have  this 

garden  had  been  for  years  a  garden  where 

small     vegetables     had     been     raised.     The 

ground  sloped  slightly  towards  the  southeast, 

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ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

enough  to  continually  wash  the  top  soil  to 
the  foot  of  the  slope,  which  was  partly  cor- 
rected by  terracing;  the  soil  was  hard  and 
clayey  and  had  never  made  a  very  successful 
vegetable  garden.  The  first  thing  was  to 
plan  the  best  arrangement  of  the  space. 

Some  time  before,  a  friend  had  given  me  a 
plan  of  her  garden,  which  was  old  when  the 
Revolutionary  war  was  ended.  Washington 
and  his  officers  had  walked  there,  and  for  the 
hundred  and  thirty  years  that  had  passed 
since  those  days  the  place  with  its  beautiful 
garden  had  remained  in  the  same  family, 
loved  and  cared  for  in  every  generation. 

This  old  garden  has  the  formal-shaped, 
Box-edged  beds  seen  in  all  Colonial  gardens. 
The  Box,  tall  and  thick,  entirely  fills  the 
beds  in  some  places,  and  the  bushes  of  old- 
fashioned  Roses,  Paeonies,  Madonna  Lilies, 
and  many  of  the  other  old-time  flowers  have 
grown  on,  increasing  in  size  and  beauty, 
while  generations  who  have  tended  them  have 
followed  each  other  to  their  last  long  sleep. 
166 


I  ^ 

I  ^ 
£ 


LILIES  AND  IRIS 

The  straight  Box-edged  paths,  and  the 
formally  shaped  beds  surrounded  with  Box, 
are  found  in  all  of  the  early  gardens,  the 
idea  having  heen  brought  over  from  the  old 
country  by  the  colonists  who  planned  their 
new  gardens  here,  after  the  manner  of  those 
they  had  known  and  loved  at  home,  and 
grew  wherever  possible  the  flowers  they  had 
tended  across  the  sea. 

The  English  and  early  American  formal 
gardens  were  a  modification  and  simplifica- 
tion of  the  elaborate  Italian  gardens,  where 
architectural  structures,  tall  cypress  trees 
and  ilex  and  myrtle  hedges  were  the  prin- 
cipal elements. 

To  many  persons  who  have  never  been 
gardeners  themselves,  or  studied  the  pleas- 
ing art,  all  formal  gardens  are  Italian 
gardens,  and  since  making  this  new  one  I 
have  spent  much  time  in  explaining,  that  it 
is  not  an  Italian  garden  but  a  Colonial  one, 
designed  from  a  garden  made  in  America 
about  1760. 

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ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

Having  longed  for  the  sound  of  fall- 
ing water  among  the  flowers,  it  seemed 
that  now  was  my  opportunity;  so  a  pool, 
round,  twelve  feet  in  diameter  and  three  feet 
deep,  was  planned  for  the  center  of  the 
garden.  First  the  place  was  excavated  and 
the  water  pipe  and  connections  with  shut-off 
valve  and  back  drainage  put  in  place;  then 
a  wall  of  stone  about  eighteen  inches  thick 
was  laid  up  in  cement,  the  bottom  concreted 
and  the  overflow  pipe  laid  to  a  loosely  stoned- 
up  blind  cistern  made  below  the  level  of  the 
bottom;  this  also  served  to  drain  out  the 
pool  in  winter,  the  water  soaking  away 
through  the  loose  stones  into  the  earth. 

The  pool  finished,  the  surface  of  the  en- 
tire garden  was  covered  with  a  thick  layer 
of  manure,  on  which  was  spread  about 
three  inches  of  muck  taken  from  the 
bottom  of  a  pond  that  was  scraped  for  the 
purpose.  Lime  also  and  sand  were  added 
to  mellow  the  stiff  soil.  The  ground  was 
then  thoroughly  ploughed,  harrowed  several 
168 


LILIES  AND  IRIS 

times,  spaded  and  carefully  raked.  Then 
with  stakes  and  garden  cord  the  beds  were 
marked  out,  and  again  spaded  and  thor- 
oughly prepared,  the  whole  garden  again 
raked,  and  the  place  was  at  last  ready  for 
planting.  The  pool  was  begun  in  early 
April,  but  various  delays  made  it  the  end  of 
May  before  the  garden  was  finally  laid  out. 
The  beds  were  surrounded  with  Box-edging 
and  many  pyramidal  evergreens  planted. 

On  June  the  fifth,  the  space  between  the 
beds  was  sown  with  grass  seed,  an  unheard- 
of  date,  and  as  it  was  too  late  to  think  of 
Lilies  for  that  year,  the  beds  were  sown 
the  following  day  with  Asters. 

For  seven  weeks  there  had  been  no  rain, 
and,  worse  still,  no  wind,  and  the  wind-mill 
did  not  pump  and  the  great  reservoir  sup- 
plying the  gardens  became  dangerously  low. 
Early  in  June  I  sailed  away  for  Europe 
in  a  sad  state  of  mind,  begging  the  men 
to  cart  the  water  if  necessary  to  keep  the 
Box  and  evergreens  alive. 
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ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

Scarcely  did  I  dare  all  Summer  to  think 
of  this  garden,  and  no  mention  of  it  was 
made  in  any  letters  received,  so  that  upon 
our  return  the  middle  of  September  I  went 
to  look  at  it,  expecting  to  see  a  bare  expanse, 
broken  by  dead  evergreens  and  brown  Box- 
edging;  but  the  rains  had  begun  the  very 
day  we  sailed,  and  the  Summer  had  been 
cool  with  frequent  rains. 

It  was  just  sunset  when  we  reached  home 
that  September  day,  and  as  I  stood  on  the 
marble  steps,  looking  down  upon  what  my 
imagination  had  portrayed  as  a  dead  gar- 
den, it  seemed  as  if  a  miracle  had  been 
wrought.  The  evergreens  were  green  and 
flourishing,  the  Box-edging  was  covered 
with  tender  shoots  of  new  growth,  the  grass 
of  the  paths  was  thick  and  free  from  weeds 
and  the  beds  were  rilled  with  blooming 
Asters,  of  which  there  were  certainly  hun- 
dreds in  each  bed,  and  although  three  colors 
had  been  used,  white,  palest  pink,  and  faint 
blue,  each  bed  contained  but  one  variety. 
170 


Vase  of  Siberian  Iris 
May  twenty-fifth 


LILIES  AND  IRIS 

In  the  pool  the  Nelumbium  speciosum  spread 
its  great  blue-green  leaves  and  two  of  its 
pink  lilies  with  golden  hearts  rose  on  tall 
stems  above  the  water.  The  pale  colors 
with  the  fresh  green  setting  seemed  in  the 
soft  sunset-light  almost  unreal  after  the  sad 
expectation  that  had  so  long  filled  my  mind. 
Any  garden  lover  will  sympathize  and  un- 
derstand my  great  delight. 

In  October,  when  frost  had  killed  the 
Asters,  the  beds  were  finally  prepared  for 
the  Lilies  and  Iris  which  they  were  then  to 
receive.  Over  each  bed  was  spread  a  layer 
each,  of  old  manure,  leaf -mould,  bone  meal, 
wood  ashes,  phosphate,  and  a  sprinkling  of 
air-slaked  lime,  the  beds  were  then  spaded 
and  re-spaded  so  as  to  mix  the  new  con- 
stituents thoroughly  with  the  soil  already 
there,  and  then  came  planting  time. 

But   for   a   moment   let   me   digress   and 

again  say  a  word  upon  the  preparation  of 

the  soil,  for  in  this  lies  the  great  secret  of 

success    in    gardening.     Make    it    deep    and 

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ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

rich  and  light,  giving  to  the  plants  the  food 
they  require,  and,  with  weekly  cultivation 
and  an  occasional  soaking  to  the  roots  if 
the  weather  be  dry,  you  cannot  fail  to  have 
a  successful  garden. 

People  continually  ask  me,  "What  is  the 
use  of  making  the  beds  so  deep?"  and  "Why 
not  put  the  enrichment  on  the  top  of  the 
ground?"  If  you  make  a  garden  with  beds 
but  a  foot  in  depth,  the  plants  may  struggle 
along  for  a  year,  but  look  at  them  the  sec- 
ond year  and  see  their  stunted  condition  and 
poor  bloom,  and  in  comparing  such  a  garden 
with  one  properly  made,  the  answer  is  found. 
If  there  is  a  foot  of  good  rich  soil  below 
the  roots  of  the  plants  and  all  the  rest  of 
the  earth  is  equally  good,  the  plants  are 
enabled  to  resist  a  drought  that  would  other- 
wise cause  them  to  cease  blossoming,  and  in 
ordinary  weather  to  reward  the  gardener 
with  a  wealth  of  bloom.  Good  garden  soil, 
with  some  sand  to  lighten  it  if  too  heavy, 
and  plenty  of  old  stable  manure  are  all  that 
172 


LILIES  AND  IRIS 

need  be  used  for  the  garden.  But  for  a 
small  garden  a  bag  each  of  bone  meal  and 
phosphate,  with  some  wood  ashes  occasion- 
ally used  sparingly,  will  help  the  plants 
along  surprisingly.  Anyone  can  make  leaf- 
mould,  which  is  a  valuable  addition,  by  sav- 
ing the  rakings  of  the  Autumn  leaves  and 
turning  them  occasionally  until  the  follow- 
ing Autumn,  when  they  may  be  dug  into 
the  beds.  I  do  not  intend  to  touch  the  soil 
of  my  Lily  and  Iris  garden  for  at  least 
four,  and  possibly  five,  years,  beyond  giving 
it  every  year  a  mulch  of  fine  manure  or 
leaf -mould  when  the  plants  are  well  up  in 
the  Spring. 

All  Lilies  will  flourish  in  rich  loam  to 
which  a  good  proportion  of  sand  has  been 
supplied,  and  once  planted,  they  should  not 
be  removed  as  long  as  they  are  doing  well. 

But  if  the  leaves  fall  from  the  stalks  and 
the  bulb  seems  unhealthy,  it  should  be  care- 
fully dug  up,  any  part  of  the  bulb  found  in 
a  bad  condition  removed,  the  bulb  dried 
173 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

with  a  soft  cloth  and  shaken  in  a  paper  bag 
containing  powdered  sulphur,  and  replanted 
immediately.  Miss  Jekyll  recommends  this 
use  of  sulphur  and  I  have  tried  it  with  good 
results. 

It  is  always  a  problem  how  to  arrange  a 
garden  so  that  it  may  be  flowering  from 
May  until  frost,  and  here  were  seven  large 
beds  to  be  filled  with  Lilies  and  Iris  only, 
and  yet  kept  blooming  throughout  the  sea- 
son. Of  Iris  Germanica  there  were  pure 
white,  pale  yellow  with  violet  markings, 
yellow  and  brown,  and  various  shades  of 
purple  and  blue;  the  lovely  "Madam  Che- 
rau,"  white  with  a  frilled  edge  of  light 
blue;  many  varieties  of  Japanese  Iris, 
white  ones  predominating,  however;  Flor- 
entine Iris  and  the  English  variety  Mont 
Blanc,  both  of  these  also  white;  Siberian 
Iris,  white  veined  with  yellow,  and  also 
violet  ones;  Spanish  Iris,  growing  tall  and 
stately  and  bearing  flowers  of  wonderful 
coloring.  The  foliage  of  the  Spanish  Iris 
174 


Vase  of  "Brazilian  Lilies'' 
June  eleventh 


LILIES  AND  IRIS 

is  so  like  the  wild  onion  that  I  was  filled 
with  alarm  when  I  saw  the  heds  in  the  fol- 
lowing April  and  immediately  dug  up  a  bulb 
to  satisfy  myself  that  a  crop  of  onions  had 
not  appeared  by  magic;  and,  last  of  all,  Chi- 
nese Iris,  but  this  did  not  bloom,  although 
flourishing  and  green,  with  foliage  quite 
similar  to  the  Germanica. 

The  different  varieties  were  laid  out  on 
the  floor  of  the  tool  room,  divided  into 
seven  parts,  and  then  planted  in  the  seven 
beds,  some  of  which  were  larger  than  others. 

Of  Lilies  there  were  Auratum,  Speciosum 
Album  and  Speciosum  Eubrum,  Longiftorum, 
Brownii,  Batemanni,  Krameri,  Leichliniif 
Rubellum,  Chalcedonicum,  Excelsum,  Su- 
perbum,  Wallace^  Canadense,  and  Hemero- 
callis,  the  yellow  Day  Lily,  in  all  eight 
hundred  Lilies  and  five  hundred  Iris. 

The  Lilies  were  divided  into  seven  parts 

like  the  Iris,  and  each  bulb  was  set  in  sand, 

a  foot  in  depth,  and  the  small  varieties  from 

four  to  six  inches  deep.     Some  were  planted 

175 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

in  clumps  of  one  or  two  dozen  of  a  kind, 
but  the  rarer  and  more  expensive  varieties 
had  only  from  four  to  six  in  a  group. 

The  names  of  the  Lilies  somewhat  phased 
the  men.  I  asked  one  the  name  of  the  bulbs 
on  a  large  package  he  had  just  laid  down. 
After  a  moment's  study,  he  replies,  "Oh, 
they're  the  Long-i-fellows." 

The  last  of  November  the  beds  had  a 
heavy  cover  of  coarse  manure.  I  was 
afraid  of  stable  litter  or  leaves,  for  fear 
that  field  mice  might  burrow  in  and  eat 
the  bulbs.  Then  came  the  terrible  winter 
with  a  degree  of  cold  which  that  wise 
person  "the  oldest  inhabitant"  described  as 
unknown  in  his  lifetime,  and  with  it  the 
fears  that  little  in  the  new  garden  would 
survive.  But  the  kindly  snow  spread  over 
all  a  warm  white  blanket,  which  remained 
from  December  until  March.  The  garden 
was  uncovered  the  last  of  March  and  by 
mid-April  the  beds  were  green  with  the 
shoots  of  Iris  and  the  bronze-green  of  the 
176 


Vase  of  striped  Japanese  Iris 
July  fourth 


LILIES  AND  IRIS 

stout  Auratum  Lilies,  and  every  sunny  day 
new  plants  appeared  to  see  what  the  world 
was  like. 

A  lady  sent  me  some  bulbs  which  she 
called  "Brazilian  Lilies."  These  bulbs  were 
planted  the  end  of  April  among  the  other 
Lilies.  They  came  up  shortly  and  grew 
rapidly,  beginning  to  bloom  about  the  end  of 
May  and  continuing  for  three  weeks.  The 
flowers  are  quite  different  from  any  I  have 
ever  seen,  the  heart  of  the  Lily  being  pale 
green  shading  to  yellow,  with  yellow  anthers, 
and  each  blossom  has  five  outside  petals  with 
fringed  edges.  The  bulb  also  is  unlike  other 
bulbs,  being  of  a  consistency  between  a  Ber- 
muda onion  and  a  beet.  They  are  tender, 
requiring  to  be  stored  like  Gladioli  during 
the  Winter.  After  blossoming,  the  plant 
makes  a  beautiful  foliage  that  in  itself  is 
most  ornamental.  I  wish  I  knew  where 
these  bulbs  might  be  procured,  as  they  are 
the  greatest  addition  to  the  Lily  garden. 

Tiger  Lilies  are  not  grown  in  this  garden, 
177 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

but  flourish  and  increase  on  the  edges  of 
shrubberies  and  along  a  stone  wall,  which 
latter  place  seems  to  be  their  natural  habitat. 

The  lovely  Candidum,  too,  has  no  place  in 
this  garden.  It  does  not  like  our  soil  or  my 
treatment,  and  after  buying  hundreds  with 
scant  success  I  have  abandoned  their  culture. 

The  German  Iris  began  to  bloom  on  May 
20th  and  continued  for  three  weeks.  The 
Florentine  and  Siberian  Iris  both  began  to 
blossom  on  May  25th  and  shortly  after  these 
came  the  English  Mont  Blanc.  By  June 
10th  the  Spanish  Iris  unfolded  its  first  blos- 
som, dark  brown  with  a  tinge  of  purple  and 
a  dull  gold  heart,  and  one  day  the  third 
week  in  June  the  first  Japanese  Iris,  white 
with  a  golden  ray  through  the  center,  ap- 
peared to  bid  me  good  morning  as  I  walked 
through  the  garden;  I  cut  the  last  of  these 
Japanese  Iris  the  3rd  of  August. 

The  fragrant  yellow  Day  Lily,  'Hemero- 
callis  florham,  was  the  first  Lily  to  open  its 
petals  in  the  new  garden,  about  the  25th  of 
178 


Spanish  Iris 
June  eleventh 


LILIES  AND  IRIS 

May,  and  bloomed  freely  for  about  two 
weeks.  Next  to  begin  blooming  after  the 
stranger  from  Brazil  were  the  lilies  Krameri 
and  Rubellum,  which  appeared  about  June 
15th.  They  are  quite  alike  in  form,  foliage 
and  color;  the  latter  a  soft  pink,  like  the 
lining  of  the  conch  shells  we  have  seen  on 
mantles  in  farm  houses,  treasured  reminders 
of  the  distant  sea.  Next  came  the  Aura- 
tums,  on  July  4th,  surprisingly  early,  for 
elsewhere  on  the  place  they  did  not  appear 
before  July  20th.  This,  however,  gave  us 
the  Auratums  for  nearly  two  months,  as  the 
last  one  was  cut  about  September  1st. 

At  the  same  time  Canadense,  a  native 
Lily,  began  to  flower  and  was  disappointing, 
as  it  bore  less  freely  than  those  growing 
wild  in  the  meadows  of  the  farm.  The  wild 
ones,  however,  grew  on  ground  that  could 
more  strictly  be  called  wet  rather  than  damp. 
The  Canadense  has  two  varieties,  flavum 
yellow  and  rubrum  red.  Each  bulb  bore 
from  three  to  five  lilies. 
179 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

While  the  Auratums  in  the  lily  garden 
were  in  their  prime,  the  Longiflorums  un- 
folded their  white  trumpets  and  were  beau- 
tiful for  three  weeks,  and  before  these  passed 
away  the  Lily  Brownii  appeared,  growing 
on  stems  about  three  feet  in  height,  with  one 
or  two  trumpet-shaped  flowers,  in  form  like 
the  Longiflorum.  These  lilies  are  white  on 
the  inside,  the  outside  shaded  with  brown 
and  purple. 

They  were  followed  the  third  week  in 
July  by  the  Chalcedonicum  (the  scarlet 
Turk's  Cap),  a  lily  of  the  Martagon  type. 
These  lilies  grow  in  a  small  cluster  at  the 
top  of  stems  about  four  feet  high.  They 
are  not  large,  only  three  inches  across.  At 
the  same  time  the  Japanese  Lily,  Wallacei, 
began  to  flower.  It  is  apricot  in  color, 
spotted  with  brown  and  very  large,  and  has 
generally  but  two  lilies  on  a  stalk;  the  stalks 
are  not  over  three  feet  in  height. 

The  Lily  Batemanni  bloomed  first  on  July 
25th;  it  has  flowers  of  a  warm  shade  of 
180 


LILIES  AND  IRIS 

apricot  without  spots,  growing  generally  in 
groups  of  three  blossoms,  on  stems  about 
four  feet  tall. 

Lilium  Leichtlinii,  a  Japanese  Lily,  also 
bloomed  during  the  first  ten  days  of  August. 
I  found  it  very  beautiful  and  delicate,  of  a 
pale  yellow  color,  with  purple  markings  on 
the  inside.  The  stems  seemed  frail,  and  al- 
though one  or  two  bore  two  lilies,  there  was 
generally  but  one  on  a  stalk,  and  I  fear  that 
this  Lily  will  not  bear  another  year. 

Superbums  bloomed  all  through  August, 
and  the  petals  of  the  last  one  fell  the  very 
end  of  September.  The  stalks  are  about 
five  feet  in  height  and  each  stalk  bears  cer- 
tainly twenty  lilies.  I  am  told  that  this 
variety,  when  well  established,  increases  in 
quantity  of  bloom  until  there  are  often 
thirty  flowers  and  the  stalks  eight  feet  high. 
The  flowers  are  crimson-orange  and  remind 
one  of  the  Tiger  Lily. 

The  middle  of  August,  while  the  stately 
Auratums  still  lingered  in  the  Lily  garden, 
181 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

the  lilies  Rubrum,  and  Melpomene  which  is 
quite  like  Rubrum  but  more  brilliant  in 
color,  and  the  beautiful  wax-like  Lilium 
album  appeared;  and,  of  these,  the  ones 
protected  from  the  frost  did  not  cease 
blooming  until  the  second  week  in  Octo- 
ber. 

One  other  Lily,  Gigantium,  said  to  grow 
six  feet  high,  was  planted,  but  not  in  the 
garden.  It  required  "a  cool  woodland," 
according  to  Miss  Jekyll,  so  a  corner  was 
found  under  tall  trees  where  Rhododendrons 
formed  a  background;  a  large  place  was 
dug  out  and  filled  with  specially  prepared 
soil,  and,  with  a  petition  to  the  goddess 
Flora,  the  bulb  was  carefully  planted,  only 
one,  because  they  are  expensive — three  dol- 
lars apiece — and  this  was  an  experiment. 
Three  weeks,  a  month,  five  weeks,  went  by 
and  no  sign  from  the  bulb.  Impatience 
could  no  longer  be  restrained,  and  with  care 
it  was  dug  up.  Alas!  the  bulb  was  nearly 
gone.  The  soil  or  climate  or  something  was 
182 


LILIES  AND  IRIS 

unpropitious,  and  thus  I  was  unable  to  have 
the  handsomest  of  all  the  lilies. 

By  the  first  of  June  every  inch  of  space 
in  the  beds  was  filled  with  Asters,  Gladioli 
or  tuberous-rooted  Begonias.  Each  bed  had 
one  of  these  varieties  of  flowers. 

These  Begonias,  which  are  a  most  beau- 
tiful flower  of  waxy  texture,  quite  four 
inches  across,  were  started  in  hot-beds  the 
first  of  March,  began  to  blossom  in  early 
July  and  continued  until  killed  by  hard 
frost.  The  bulbs  may  also  be  planted  in 
the  open  ground  in  May  as  soon  as  danger 
from  frost  is  over.  Plant  with  the  hollow 
end  of  the  bulb  up,  and  cover  with  two 
inches  of  earth;  they  will  begin  to  blossom 
early  in  August.  Both  the  foliage  and  the 
flowers  are  beautiful,  and  they  are  so  easy 
of  cultivation,  that  no  one  will  regret  hav- 
ing them.  They  prefer  a  partial  shade, 
but  when  given  a  mulch  they  do  perfectly 
in  full  sun.  The  white  are  the  handsomest; 
afterwards  the  pink  and  scarlet. 
183 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

In  the  Autumn  the  bulbs  should  be  taken 
up,  after  the  foliage  has  been  destroyed  by 
the  frost,  carefully  dried  and  stored  through 
the  Winter.  It  is  a  frequent  practice  to 
pack  the  bulbs  in  boxes  of  dry  sand,  the 
bulbs  not  touching  each  other,  and  then 
to  store  the  boxes  in  some  suitable  place,  but 
for  the  last  two  Winters  I  have  kept  them 
in  baskets  in  an  ordinary  cellar,  side  by  side 
with  similar  baskets  of  Gladioli,  Dahlias, 
and  Cannas,  and  they  have  been  in  perfect 
condition  in  the  Spring. 

The  Begonias  began  to  flower  early  in 
July,  the  Asters  and  Gladioli  the  middle  of 
August,  and  all  continued  to  bloom  until 
the  frost  came. 

Other  than  Lilies  and  Iris,  this  one  an- 
nual and  the  two  summer-flowering  bulbs 
were  all  that  were  admitted  to  this  garden. 
To  observe  the  Iris  and  Lilies  as  they  came 
into  bloom  was  most  interesting,  but  of  the 
many  varieties  of  Lilies  there  are,  after  all, 
but  few  that  are  entirely  satisfactory,  and 
184 


LILIES  AND  IRIS 

fewer  still  that  can  be  counted  on  to 
increase.  Of  the  latter  there  are  the  Spe- 
ciosum  album  and  Rubrum,  which  last 
thrives  best  in  a  partially  shaded  location, 
or  if  given  a  heavy  mulch  can  be  grown  in 
the  sun;  Canadense,  Superbum,  the  Tigers, 
Krameri,  Rubellum,  and  the  yellow  Day 
Lily.  Beautiful  ones  which  we  cannot  do 
without  and  yet  which  disappear  after  more 
or  less  time,  are  the  Auratums,  Longiflor- 
ums,  and  Brownii. 

The  old-fashioned  Funckias,  called  "Day 
Lilies"  by  our  grandmothers,  require  too 
much  space  to  be  admitted  to  the  Lily  gar- 
den, but  are  grown  in  masses  elsewhere,  and 
I  often  wonder  whether  the  clusters  of 
slender  white  trumpets  or  the  great  yellow- 
green  leaves  are  most  beautiful.  Funckias, 
like  the  Paeonies,  should  be  undisturbed, 
and  for  the  first  two  or  three  years  not 
much  should  be  expected  of  them;  after- 
wards the  number  of  blossoms  will  increase 
every  year. 

185 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

In  the  pool  there  were  Nelumbium  spe- 
ciosum,  the  pink  Egyptian  Lotus,  a  tender 
Water  Lily.  If  the  season  is  early  they 
can  be  planted  about  May  15th.  Fill  a 
flower  tub  or  butter  tub,  which  must  first 
be  made  perfectly  tight,  with  equal  parts 
of  cow  manure  and  garden  loam  which 
have  been  carefully  mixed.  Contrary  to 
common  opinion,  it  is  the  soil  that  nour- 
ishes aquatics,  not  water.  Plant  the  Lily 
roots  nearly  at  the  top  of  the  tub,  covering 
only  with  about  two  inches  of  soil  well 
pressed  down.  If  a  bulb  or  shoot  has 
formed,  be  careful  to  allow  it  to  project 
above  the  soil.  Finally  cover  the  earth  with 
about  two  inches  of  sand,  which  prevents 
the  soil  in  the  tub  from  discoloring  the 
water.  If  you  have  no  pool  or  pond,  the 
Nelumbium  or  the  English  Nymphaes  or  our 
native  Pond  Lilies  can  readily  be  grown  in 
a  kerosene  barrel  sawed  in  half  and  sunk  in 
the  ground  to  the  rim,  in  some  effective  place 
where  it  will  have  full  sun,  generally  in 
186 


Xelumbium  Speciosum 
September  twentieth 


LILIES  AND  IRIS 

front  of  a  shrubbery  or  with  a  background 
of  low  evergreens.  Half  fill  this  with  soil, 
plant  the  Lily,  not  forgetting  the  sand,  fill 
up  with  water  and  from  time  to  time  replen- 
ish the  water  to  replace  that  which  has 
evaporated. 

Water  Lilies  are  beautiful  alike  in  flower 
and  leaf.  The  delicate  petals  of  the  pink 
Nelumbium  with  its  great  golden  calyx,  the 
flower  when  extended  being  quite  twelve 
inches  across,  and  the  velvety  leaves  often 
measuring  twenty-two  inches  across,  the  first 
to  appear  resting  on  the  water  and  later 
ones  rising  on  straight  stems  two  feet  or 
more  above  it,  make  this  plant  an  object  of 
unusual  beauty.  Nothing  can  be  more  in- 
teresting than  to  watch  its  daily  growth. 

Every  few  feet  around  the  pool,  just  back 
of  the  wall,  English  Ivy  is  planted,  which 
as  it  grows  is  fastened  down  with  hairpins, 
those  most  valuable  implements  of  feminin- 
ity, and  will,  it  is  hoped,  in  time  surround 
the  edge  of  the  pool  so  that  the  water  will 
187 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

be  framed  in  green.  The  ivy  can  be  pro- 
tected in  Winter  by  a  covering  of  leaves  and 
some  evergreen  branches.  In  the  pool  are 
several  varieties  of  fish,  among  them  gold- 
fish, which  not  only  add  to  its  beauty,  but 
devour  the  larvae  of  the  mosquitoes  which 
otherwise  might  breed  in  the  fresh  water. 

Many  birds  nest  in  the  gardens:  black- 
birds, robins,  gray  wrens,  the  faithful  phoebe 
birds,  who  return  year  after  year  to  the 
same  nesting  place,  and  raise  two  families 
every  season;  orioles,  whose  nests  hang  from 
the  branches  of  the  tallest  trees;  yellow 
birds;  meadow  larks;  humming-birds  innu- 
merable, darting  from  flower  to  flower  with 
lightning-like  rapidity;  black  and  white 
woodpeckers  with  scarlet  heads,  which  live 
in  the  tall  old  locusts  and  share  these  trees 
with  the  blue- jays,  which  are  always  at 
enmity  with  the  robins  and  also  fight  the 
red  squirrels  to  preserve  nests  and  babies. 
Last  year  a  pair  of  quail  nested  among  a 
mass  of  Phlox,  and  later  went  away  to  the 
188 


LILIES  AND  IRIS 

upland  fields  with  eight  plump,  well-grown 
little  ones. 

These  hirds  have  appropriated  the  pool 
as  their  favorite  bathing  place;  alighting 
daintily  upon  a  great  leaf  of  Nelumbium,  the 
crystal  water  in  its  hollow  forms  their  bath, 
and  from  a  little  distance  you  may  see  them 
dip  and  splash  and  then  alight  upon  a  near- 
by branch,  or  upon  the  tall  stalk  of  a  Lily, 
and  preen  and  dry  their  plumage  before 
flying  away  into  the  blue. 

Americans  with  houses  in  the  country  are 
learning  to  live  more  and  more  out  of  doors; 
to  take  book  or  sewing  or  writing  to  some 
quiet,  retired  spot  in  the  garden  under  a 
shady  tree  or  arbor;  to  see  their  friends 
among  the  trees  and  flowers,  and  there  have 
afternoon  tea  or  take  an  evening  meal  al 
fresco. 

In  our  garden  a  bench  near  the  pool  is 

a  favorite  resting  place  with  all.     There  is 

a    dreamy    fascination    in    listening    to    the 

plashing  water,  whose  liquid  tones  lend  an 

189 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

accompaniment  to  the  thoughts  that  flit 
through  the  mind  even  as  the  shadows  flit 
across  the  hills,  or  the  changing  clouds  are 
reflected  in  the  water.  At  night  when  the 
tall  white  Lilies  gleam  through  the  dark- 
ness and  the  air  is  heavy  with  their  per- 
fume, and  moon  and  stars  are  mirrored  in 
the  clear  pool,  it  is  the  time  and  the  place 
for  "touches  of  sweet  harmony,"  and  when 
a  pure  voice  is  heard  singing  "and  the  night 
for  love  was  given,  Dearest,  come  to  me," 
from  Schubert's  serenade,  a  final  enchant- 
ment descends  upon  the  spot. 

When  staying  at  Oxford  and  wandering 
through  those  grand  old  gardens  it  has  been 
easy  to  understand,  how  their  calm  beauty 
and  charm  have  inspired  the  thoughts  of 
the  men  who  have  produced  so  much  that  is 
best  in  English  literature  and  poetry.  The 
shaded  alley  by  the  Cherwell,  the  great 
purple  beeches,  the  shadows  fleeting  across 
the  grass,  the  antiquity  of  the  place  and  all 
that  the  great  university  has  stood  for  in  its 
190 


Vase  of  Lilium  Longiflorum 
July  tenth 


LILIES  AND  IRIS 

centuries  of  existence,  these  surroundings 
and  the  life  in  the  gardens  must,  if  there  is 
any  poetry  or  spirit  of  imagination  in  him, 
stimulate  the  Oxford  man  to  valuable  liter- 
ary work. 


191 


AUTUMN  WORK 
IN  THE  FLOWER  GARDEN 


CHAPTER    VII 

AUTUMN  WORK  IN  THE  FLOWER  GARDEN. 

IT  is  difficult  for  beginners  in  the  gentle 
art  of  gardening  to  realize  how  much 
time  and  patience  are  required  to  make  suc- 
cess. It  is  equally  difficult  at  first  for  them 
to  understand  that  flowers  to  bloom  in 
late  Summer  and  early  Autumn  must  be 
planted,  if  not  the  year  before,  certainly  in 
very  early  Spring,  and  that  the  Spring 
garden  must  be  prepared  in  the  Fall. 

There  is  no  busier  time  in  the  garden 
than  September  and  October,  and  no  more 
delightful  season  for  the  gardener's  work. 
After  the  first  two  weeks  of  September  ex- 
cessive heat  does  not  return,  and  at  any 
hour  of  the  day  it  is  a  delight  to  be  out-of- 
doors. 

Everthing  accomplished  in  these  Autumn 
months  is  so  much  gained  for  the  following 
195 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

Spring.  First  of  all,  there  are  the  seeds  to 
be  gathered — for  why  incur  the  expense  of 
buying  when  those  raised  in  your  own  gar- 
den may  be  just  as  fine  and  much  fresher 
than  those  from  the  seed  stores?  Small  card- 
board or  tin  boxes,  each  with  a  pasted  label 
with  the  name  of  the  seed  it  contains,  are 
the  best  in  which  to  store  the  seeds. 

Gather  the  seeds  from  the  plants  into  a 
cigar  box,  and  after  carefully  removing  all 
the  husks  and  dead  particles,  transfer  them 
to  the  labeled  boxes.  Only  enough  of  the 
annuals  should  be  allowed  to  form  seed  pods 
to  supply  the  quantity  needed  for  sowing. 
Among  the  seeds  easiest  to  gather,  and 
surest  to  grow  the  following  spring  are 
Asters,  Balsams,  Centaureas  (Cornflowers), 
Cosmos,  Calendulas,  Poppies  of  all  kinds, 
Marigolds,  Nasturtiums,  Sunflowers,  Zin- 
nias, Hollyhocks,  Sweet  Williams,  Fox- 
gloves, and  Larkspurs.  Sweet  Peas  should 
not  be  allowed  to  form  seed  pods  or  they 
will  cease  to  blossom. 

196 


Vase  of  White  Japanese  Iris 
July  fourth 


AUTUMN   WORK 

Care  must  be  taken  to  store  the  seeds 
through  the  Winter  in  a  perfectly  dry  place. 
In  case  they  are  left  in  an  unoccupied  coun- 
try house  they  should  be  protected  from 
mice,  as  all  flower  seeds  seem  to  be  articles 
of  delicacy  much  appreciated  by  these  crea- 
tures. The  flower  seeds  can  be  gathered  all 
through  the  months  of  September  and  Octo- 
ber until  the  plants  are  killed  by  frost. 
When  gathering  them  do  not  omit  the  little 
black  bulbils  found  on  the  stems  of  the 
Tiger  Lilies.  These  should  be  planted  as 
soon  as  dried,  in  some  sunny  place  marked 
with  sticks,  which  are  not  to  be  removed 
during  the  Winter,  to  insure  that  the  ground 
where  they  have  been  planted  will  not  be 
disturbed  in  the  Spring. 

Pansy  seeds  may  be  sown  the  first  week 
in  September  in  rows,  in  rich  soil  that  has 
been  made  very  fine.  Water  them  daily, 
and  by  the  time  the  ground  freezes  they 
will  be  nice  little  plants,  able  to  endure  the 
Winter.  Do  not  transplant  them  this  first 
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ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

Autumn,  but  allow  them  to  remain  until  the 
Spring  in  the  rows  where  they  have  grown. 
They  will  do  better  next  year  if  undis- 
turbed. Pansies,  however,  that  were  sown  in 
July  may  be  transplanted  in  October  to  their 
final  places.  If  they  have  been  grown  for 
flowering  next  year,  all  blossoms  should  be 
cut  as  soon  as  they  appear.  In  this  way 
the  plants  become  larger  and  stronger.  In 
localities  where  the  Winters  are  severe  a 
light  covering  of  leaves  or  stable  litter  will 
help  the  plants  to  make  an  earlier  start  in 
the  Spring. 

If  new  beds  and  borders  are  to  be  made 
in  your  garden,  the  first  days  of  September 
are  not  too  early  to  begin.  When  these 
have  been  carefully  staked  out,  the  ground 
should  be  dug  out  two  feet  in  depth  and 
all  stones  removed.  Put  first  a  foot  of  old 
manure  in  the  bottom  of  the  bed,  and  then 
proceed  to  fill  up  with  alternate  layers,  of 
about  four  inches  each,  of  top  soil  (that 
taken  from  the  first  foot  of  soil  taken  out) 
198 


AUTUMN  WORK 

and  manure.  If  the  top  soil  is  of  a  clayey 
nature,  it  should  be  put  in  a  pile  and  mixed 
with  one-fourth  sand  to  lighten  it  before 
returning  to  the  bed.  This  should  be  filled 
very  full,  as  with  the  disintegration  of  the 
manure  the  bed  will  sink. 

The  owner  of  the  garden  may  have  no- 
ticed during  the  Summer  that  plants  in 
certain  beds  or  borders  have  not  done  well. 
The  earth  has  seemed  hard  and  dry,  and 
the  plants  have  not  been  luxuriant  either  in 
foliage  or  bloom.  The  soil  is  either  poor  or 
exhausted,  or  it  has  not  been  properly  pre- 
pared. These  beds  should  then  be  re-made 
by  lifting  the  plants,  setting  them,  after 
watering  well,  in  a  shady  place  and  proceed- 
ing exactly  as  if  making  new  beds.  It  is 
best  to  take  up  at  one  time  only  so  much 
space  as  can  be  entirely  finished  and  the 
plants  reset  in  one  day.  Ground  thus  pre- 
pared will  raise  splendid  plants  for  several 
years  if  given  a  top  dressing  of  fine  manure 
in  the  Spring  after  the  plants  have  started. 
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ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

About  the  twentieth  of  September,  in  the 
Middle  States,  one  may  begin  to  expect 
frost.  The  first  frost  often  comes  when  the 
garden  is  glorious  with  bloom  and  color,  and 
will  make  sad  havoc  in  a  single  night.  It 
frequently  happens  that  after  one  such  frost 
there  will  not  be  another  for  several  weeks. 
Be  on  the  watch,  therefore,  and  protect 
your  plants  if  possible. 

The  Cannas,  Salvias,  and  Dahlias  are  in 
the  height  of  their  glory  at  this  time.  When 
frost  is  expected,  drive  a  stake  into  the 
center  of  the  Canna  and  Salvia  beds,  and 
several  more  stakes  around  the  edges.  Let 
them  be  several  inches  higher  than  the  plants, 
then  cover  with  carriage  covers  or  pieces  of 
burlap  or  old  sheets.  If  there  are  Septem- 
ber-flowering Chrysanthemums  just  coming 
into  blossom,  drive  a  few  stakes  among 
them  and  cover  with  newspapers.  News- 
papers spread  over  the  tops  of  Dahlias  will 
also  protect  them  from  the  early  frost.  Half 
an  hour  spent  after  sunset  in  covering  the 
200 


AUTUMN  WORK 

plants  will  bring  great  reward  in  prolonging 
their  lives  for  possibly  two  weeks  longer. 

If  seedling  Foxgloves,  Canterbury  Bells, 
Columbines  and  Sweet  Williams  have  been 
raised  in  your  garden,  they  should  be  trans- 
planted to  the  beds  about  the  twentieth  of 
September,  so  that  they  may  become  well 
rooted  before  the  cold  weather. 

Sweet  Williams  make  a  fine  effect  when 
planted  in  large  masses,  and  are  very  satis- 
factory grown  as  an  edging.  Columbines 
also  make  a  good  edging  for  a  border  filled 
with  perennials  and  annuals.  If  the  plants 
are  strong  and  healthy,  and  are  set  out 
about  four  inches  apart,  they  will  grow 
quite  together  the  following  Spring. 

Foxgloves,  which  grow  from  three  to  four 
feet  high,  should  be  planted  rather  far  back 
in  the  borders.  They  are  most  effective 
planted  in  clumps  of  from  six  to  a  dozen 
plants,  set  about  eight  inches  apart,  and 
alternating  with  clumps  of  Phloxes. 

Canterbury  Bells  grow  about  two  feet 
201 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

high,  and  with  these  plants  also  the  best 
effect  is  to  be  obtained  when  they  are  grown 
in  clumps  of  six  or  eight.  Strong  plants  in 
rich  soil  will  be  quite  a  foot  across  when 
blooming.  If  planted  a  foot  apart,  they  will 
grow  together,  and,  with  the  Foxgloves, 
produce  the  most  beautiful  effect  of  the 
entire  Summer.  In  case  none  of  these  plants 
have  been  raised,  and  no  more  fortunate 
kindly  neighbor,  with  the  free-masonry  that 
exists  among  gardeners,  can  give  them  to 
you,  they  should  be  bought  and  planted  at 
once,  if  they  are  to  blossom  in  next  Sum- 
mer's garden. 

Perennial  Larkspurs,  too,  should  now  be 
finally  transplanted.  These  are  hardy  and 
long-lived  plants,  growing  from  four  to 
six  feet  in  height,  often  higher.  Plant  six 
or  eight  together,  about  two  feet  apart. 
When  the  Larkspurs  are  finally  cut  down, 
a  small  quantity  of  fine  coal  ashes  should  be 
sifted  over  the  tops  of  the  plants,  enough 
to  cover  the  crown  about  half  an  inch. 
202 


AUTUMN  WORK 

Autumn  planting  should  be  done  suffi- 
ciently early  for  the  plants  to  become  well 
rooted  before  the  ground  freezes,  and  a 
good  covering  of  leaves  or  litter  must  then 
be  given  them  late  in  the  fall. 

Japanese  Anemones,  tender  Roses,  Mont 
Brutus,  Tritomas,  and  Altheas  are  among 
the  few  plants  that  should  be  set  out  in  the 
Spring,  that  they  may  be  thoroughly  estab- 
lished before  the  Winter.  But  with  the 
great  majority  of  hardy  flowers  early  Au- 
tumn is  the  best  time  to  plant.  The  result 
in  the  following  year  will  be  better  than 
if  the  plants  are  disturbed  in  the  Spring- 
time when  growth  is  beginning. 

If  Lilies  and  spring-flowering  bulbs  are 
to  be  planted,  they  should  be  ordered  early 
in  September  for  October  delivery.  Lily 
bulbs  are  generally  delivered  about  the  20th 
of  October,  with  the  exception  of  Lilium 
candidum  (the  well-known  Madonna  Lily), 
which  makes  an  Autumn  growth  and  should 
be  planted  not  later  than  the  10th  of  Sep- 
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ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

tember.  Lilium  candidum  requires  full  sun. 
It  should  be  left  undisturbed  for  four  or 
five  years,  when  the  clumps  may  be  sepa- 
rated and  replanted.  L.  speciosum  rubrum 
should  be  grown  in  partial  shade.  Other 
Lilies  will  grow  in  the  sun. 

Auratum  Lilies  do  best  if  planted  a  foot 
deep  and  about  eight  inches  apart,  and  are 
most  effective  when  growing  in  masses. 
Other  lilies  should  be  planted  from  six  to 
eight  inches  deep  and  the  same  distance 
apart.  When  planting  Lilies  have  a  box  of 
sand  and  set  each  bulb  in  a  handful  of  this, 
for  it  is  important  that  no  manure  should 
be  allowed  to  come  in  contact  with  the  Lily 
bulb,  as  it  causes  decay. 

No  garden,  however  tiny,  should  be  with- 
out a  few  of  the  spring-flowering  bulbs. 
They  are  not  expensive.  Indeed,  in  reading 
the  catalogues  one  is  surprised  to  find  how 
many  can  be  had  for  a  small  sum.  No 
special  place  need  be  prepared  for  them; 
they  can  be  planted  anywhere  among  the 
204 


AUTUMN  WORK 

other  plants.  Single  and  double  Tulips, 
Daffodils,  Emperor  and  Von  Sion  Nar- 
cissus, Narcissus  poetlcus,  and  single  and 
double  Hyacinths,  Lily-of-the-Valley,  and 
the  gay  little  Crocuses  and  delicate  Snow- 
drops, once  grown,  will  become  the  dearest 
friends.  The  middle  of  October  is  a  good 
time  to  plant  them. 

When  the  annuals  have  been  killed  by 
frost,  the  plants  must  all  be  pulled  up, 
taken  away  to  some  spot  far  from  trees  or 
buildings  and  burned.  It  is  a  bad  practice  to 
put  these  dead  plants  on  the  compost  heap 
to  be  returned  to  the  garden  later  as  fer- 
tilizer. For  if  the  plants  have  been  attacked 
by  any  insects,  their  eggs  may,  and  usually 
do,  survive  the  winter  cold,  and  another 
year  the  worm  or  insect  coming  from  them 
will  work  serious  harm  to  the  young  plants. 
The  same  is  true  of  vegetable  parasites,  such 
as  rusts,  and  other  fungi  whose  spores  sur- 
vive the  winter. 

If  your  garden  possesses  Phlox  or  large 
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ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

clumps  of  Iris,  either  German  or  Japanese, 
or  Rudbeckias  (Golden  Glow),  October  is 
the  time  to  divide  their  roots  and  set  them 
out  anew.  Take,  for  instance,  a  large  plant 
of  Phlox,  lift  it  from  the  ground  with  a 
spade  and  with  the  spade  cut  the  root  into 
pieces,  leaving  perhaps  four  or  five  stalks 
on  each  piece;  cut  off  the  tops  and  then 
plant  each  piece  separately.  In  setting  them 
out,  loosen  the  earth  of  the  bed  well  with 
the  spade,  make  a  hole  larger  than  the  roots 
will  require,  put  a  little  manure  into  the  hole 
and  cover  lightly  with  earth;  then  set  the 
plant,  pack  the  earth  firmly  around  the 
roots  and  water  thoroughly.  This  is  a  good 
rule  to  follow  in  all  planting.  Next  Sum- 
mer the  heads  of  the  blossoms  will  be  larger 
than  before  and  the  plants  will  have  renewed 
vigor. 

It    is    absolutely    necessary    that    Phloxes 

should  be  divided  every  three  or  four  years 

to  keep  them  in  fine  condition.     In  case  one 

has  a  single  large  plant  of  a  very  fine  qual- 

206 


AUTUMN   WORK 

ity,  it  is  worth  the  trouble  to  take  half  of  it, 
separate  the  roots  so  that  but  one  stalk  is 
left  to  each  section,  then  plant  these,  as 
directed,  somewhere  in  rows.  In  two  years 
there  will  be  a  number  of  splendid  plants. 

The  Rudbeckia  (Golden  Glow)  is  another 
perennial  that  can  be  divided  almost  indefi- 
nitely. If  planted  at  the  back  of  a  border, 
alternating  in  clumps  with  Hollyhocks,  it  is 
very  effective,  but  if  not  divided,  certainly 
every  other  year,  it  will  overrun  the  border. 

Large  plants  of  Paeonies  may  be  sepa- 
rated, and  if  only  a  small  portion  of  the 
root  be  taken  it  will  not  be  noticed  in  the 
size  of  the  parent  plant  the  next  year.  But 
it  is  a  very  generous  gardener  who  will 
divide  her  Paeony  roots  to  give  to  a  friend. 
It  causes  a  severe  wrench  to  your  feelings 
to  do  this  even  for  yourself,  and  is  not  to 
be  recommended  except  in  the  case  of  some 
rare  variety  of  which  you  wish  to  increase 
the  number  of  plants.  In  late  October  the 
tops  of  the  Paeony  plants  should  be  cut  off, 
207 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

and  fine  old  manure  carefully  stirred  into 
the  earth  around  them  with  a  trowel.  The 
Paeony  starts  so  early  in  the  Spring,  that 
if  fertilizing  be  left  till  that  time,  there  is 
danger  of  breaking  the  tender  shoots.  But 
as  a  rule,  top  dressing  of  plants  and  shrubs 
with  manure  for  the  purpose  of  fertilizing 
should  be  deferred  until  Spring. 

Horticulturists  have  found  that  one-half 
the  quantity  of  fertilizer,  when  used  in  the 
Spring,  produces  twice  the  result  as  when 
used  in  the  Fall.  The  Winter  rain  and  snow 
may  carry  the  enrichment  below  the  roots, 
while  in  the  Spring  every  particle  goes 
directly  to  help  the  new  life  just  starting. 

Japanese  Iris,  while  not  increasing  very 
rapidly,  is  benefited  by  separation  when  the 
clumps  have  become  large.  The  roots  of 
this  plant  are  very  long  and  the  holes  to 
receive  them  when  replanted  must  be  made 
sufficiently  deep  so  that  they  are  not  doubled 
up.  German  Iris  may  be  separated  in  the 
same  way  and  is  benefited  by  it.  The  roots 
208 


f! 


AUTUMN  WORK 

of  these  two  plants  can  be  cut  into  pieces 
about  the  size  of  a  man's  fist  and  planted 
about  a  foot  apart  in  clumps  of  six  or 
eight  together. 

As  soon  as  the  tops  of  the  Dahlias, 
Cannas,  and  Gladioli  have  been  killed  by 
the  frost,  their  roots  should  be  lifted,  the 
tops  cut  off  and  the  roots  well  dried.  This 
is  best  done  by  placing  them  out-of-doors 
in  a  sunny  place  for  three  days,  taking 
them  in  when  the  sun  is  low  and  putting 
them  out  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
When  dried  they  may  be  stored  until  next 
Spring  in  baskets,  boxes  or  barrels  in  a  cool 
place  in  any  cellar  where  they  will  not 
freeze.  Dahlias  increase  tremendously.  For 
instance,  two  dozen  roots  purchased  one 
Spring  increased  in  five  Summers  to  six 
barrelfuls.  Cannas  also  increase,  in  that  the 
roots  become  so  large  that  the  following 
Spring  they  may  be  separated  and  there 
will  be  enough  to  plant  nearly  twice  the 
space  of  the  year  before. 
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ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

If  the  Tuberous-rooted  Begonia  is  grown, 
it  can  be  taken  up  and  treated  in  the  same 
way. 

The  last  work  of  all  in  the  garden,  but 
not  the  least  important,  must  be  postponed 
until  the  end  of  November.  This  consists 
in  giving  the  flower  garden,  in  all  localities 
where  the  Winters  are  severe,  a  covering 
of  leaves  and  stable-litter.  The  plants  will 
start  earlier  in  the  Spring  and  be  better  and 
stronger  for  this  protection.  They  should 
not  be  covered,  however,  until  the  cold 
weather  really  sets  in,  and  care  must  be 
taken  to  uncover  the  beds  early,  about  the 
25th  of  March. 

Often  during  the  frozen  Winter  the  gar- 
dener's thoughts  will  dwell  upon  his  sleeping 
plants,  and  when  remembering  the  Lily 
bulbs  placed  in  the  earth  in  the  Autumn  he 
can  but  think  how  in  the  Spring  they  will 
rise  into  a  new  life,  crowned  with  loveliest 
bloom. 


210 


THE    FLOWER    GARDEN 
IN   THE   SPRING 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE  FLOWER  GARDEN  IN  THE  SPRING 


WTH  the  first  mild  day  that  comes 
in  March  the  thoughts  of  all  garden 
lovers,  who  spend  the  Winter  months  in  the 
round  of  city  life,  fly  away  to  their  gar- 
dens. They  know  that  within  the  brown 
earth,  soon  to  become  soft  and  warm,  the 
hearts  of  the  plants  are  beginning  to  stir, 
and  that  watching  eyes  will  see,  with  each 
day's  sunshine,  new  tender  shoots  of  green 
appear.  Let  us  then  consider  first  the  order 
of  work  to  be  followed  in  an  old  garden, 
or  in  one  that  was  laid  out  and  planted  the 
year  before. 

Wherever  gardens    were    covered   in   late 

Autumn  with  a  mulch  this  should  be  removed 

in  the  Spring,  the  very  day  that  the  frost 

entirely    leaves    the    ground,    otherwise    the 

213 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

plants  under  it  may  start  unnaturally  and 
their  early  growth  be  injured  by  late  Spring 
frosts.  When  the  beds  are  uncovered,  the 
red  shoots  of  the  Paeonies,  and  the  green 
ones  of  Tulips,  Daffodils,  Phlox,  and  Holly- 
hocks, will  have  already  put  up  their  heads. 
All  gardeners  know  the  thrill  of  delight 
with  which  this  first  appearance  of  life 
among  the  flowers  is  welcomed. 

After  the  beds  have  been  uncovered  the 
whole  place  must  be  carefully  raked,  and  all 
the  beds,  borders  and  paths  edged,  by  cut- 
ting with  a  sharp  spade  or  a  grass  edging 
knife.  Wherever  the  grass  seemed  thin  the 
season  before,  new  seed  should  be  sown  and 
thoroughly  rolled  in  while  the  ground  is 
soft.  In  about  two  weeks  this  new  grass 
should  appear;  and  if  some  cotton  seed 
meal,  which  is  a  most  excellent  fertilizer  for 
grass,  be  sown  thinly  as  soon  as  it  is  well 
up,  and  followed  by  some  wood-ashes  along 
in  May,  there  should  be  a  fine  sod  in  June. 
If  it  is  a  dry  Spring,  the  newly  sown  grass 


Vase  of  Lilium  Krameri 
July  fourth 


SPRING 

must  be  thoroughly  watered  at  least  every 
other  day.  The  various  mixtures  of  lawn 
grass  seed  offered  by  the  seedsmen  are  gen- 
erally good,  but  I  have  found  equal  portions 
each  to  the  bushel  of  Rhode  Island  bent, 
red-top,  and  Kentucky  blue  grass  to  give 
the  best  results. 

Sweet  Peas  should  be  sown  as  soon  as  the 
ground  can  be  worked. 

During  April  and  May  every  hour  of 
every  day  is  filled  with  work,  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  garden  in  Summer  and  Autumn 
depends  upon  what  has  been  done  in  these 
early  months. 

The  climbing  Roses  should  now  be  care- 
fully gone  over,  all  the  dead  wood  cut  out 
and  the  loose  branches  fastened  in  place. 
Honeysuckle,  Trumpet  Creeper,  and  indeed 
all  the  hardy  vines  should  be  looked  after 
in  the  same  way.  The  hybrid-perpetual  and 
other  Roses  that  were  not  trimmed  back  in 
the  Autumn  should  now  be  pruned,  all  dead 
wood  and  some  of  the  larger  branches  cut 
215 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

away,  and  the  tops  of  the  hybrid-perpetuals 
pruned  back  so  that  the  bushes  are  from 
two  to  three  feet  in  height.  The  Ever- 
blooming  Roses  can  be  pruned  to  a  foot  in 
height. 

As  soon  as  the  Tulips,  Hyacinths,  and 
Daffodils  are  about  three  inches  high,  the 
earth  should  be  gently  stirred  around  them 
with  a  small  trowel.  But  beyond  this,  beds 
planted  with  perennials  should  not  be 
touched  in  the  Spring  until  the  plants  have 
shown  themselves  above  ground,  as  much 
injury  might  be  done.  When  the  peren- 
nials are  well  up,  some  fine,  well-rotted 
manure  should  be  carefully  dug  in  around 
them  with  a  trowel. 

The  hardy  Chrysanthemums  start  very 
early  in  the  Spring,  and  the  best  time  to 
transplant  them  is  when  the  shoots  are 
about  three  inches  high.  Lift  the  old  plant 
carefully,  and  with  the  spade  divide  it  into 
sections  having  about  four  shoots  to  each. 
The  beds  to  receive  them  should  be  in  a 
216 


SPRING 

sunny  place,  along  a  stone  wall  or  against 
a  building  or  in  front  of  a  shrubbery,  where 
there  is  some  protection  from  the  frosts  of 
early  Autumn. 

Trees  and  shrubs  should  be  planted  as 
soon  as  the  ground  can  be  worked.  Mag- 
nolias of  all  varieties,  hybrid  Rhododendrons, 
mountain  Laurel,  and  Azalea  mollis  (which 
does  not  thrive  in  cold  localities)  should 
only  be  planted  in  the  Spring.  Rhododen- 
drons and  Azalea  mollis  do  best  in  a  partly 
shady  location,  and  should  be  well  mulched 
and  not  allowed  to  suffer  from  drought. 

Hedges  of  all  varieties  can  be  set  out  in 
early  April.  Where  the  Winters  are  severe, 
privet  is  often  winter-killed.  This  some- 
times occurs  after  several  years  of  growth 
and  is  a  great  loss.  It  is  not  so  much  a 
continual  low  temperature  which  kills,  as 
the  alternate  freezing  and  thawing  of  our 
variable  climate.  Hemlock  spruce,  Siberian 
arbor  vitae  and  honey-locust  all  make  hardy 
and  satisfactory  hedges.  After  a  hedge  has 
217 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

been  planted,  the  earth  over  the  roots 
should  receive  a  top  dressing  of  manure. 

Unless  your  gardener  thoroughly  under- 
stands his  business,  and  is  also  painstaking, 
you  should  give  personal  supervision  to  the 
setting  out  of  trees  and  shrubs. 

Shrubs  of  all  kinds  require  to  be  set  out 
as  carefully  as  trees.  They  make  the  best 
effect  if  planted  on  the  edge  of  the  lawn, 
along  fences,  as  screens  about  buildings,  or 
in  masses  in  odd  corners.  They  should  be 
well  pruned  when  set  out,  excepting  Rhodo- 
dendrons, Laurel,  Azaleas,  and  Magnolias, 
which  should  never  be  pruned.  After  the 
first  year,  all  trimming  must  be  done  imme- 
diately after  the  shrub  has  ceased  blossom- 
ing, as  the  flowers  for  one  year  grow  on  the 
new  wood  of  the  year  before. 

Driving  in  Central  Park  early  last  spring, 
I  saw  men  cutting  ruthlessly  at  the  Syrin- 
gas,  Lilacs,  Deutzias,  and  other  flowering 
shrubs.  I  could  have  wept,  and  longed  to 
cry  "Stop!"  The  shrubs  certainly  needed 
218 


Pale  Lilac  Centauria 
July  tenth 


SPRING 

pruning,  but  it  was  a  short-sighted  policy 
to  lose  a  season's  flowers  by  premature 
pruning,  when  by  waiting  three  months  the 
work  could  be  done  equally  well  and  with 
better  results. 

Standard  Box  and  Box-edging  should 
always  be  set  out  in  early  Spring,  as  they 
need  a  season's  growth  to  enable  them  to 
endure  the  first  Winter.  In  case  the  Box- 
edging  set  out  the  year  before  has  an  un- 
even look,  it  can  be  clipped  lightly,  early  in 
April  before  growth  begins. 

English  Ivy  is  an  excellent  susbtitute  for 
Box-edging  as  a  border  for  paths  or  beds. 
In  Paris  it  is  universally  grown  for  this 
purpose,  as  all  will  remember  who  have 
peeped  through  the  tall  iron  fences  or  an 
open  gateway  into  the  trim  court  yards  and 
gardens.  The  plants  of  Ivy  are  set  about 
every  three  feet,  and  half  of  the  shoots 
trained  each  way.  The  plants  must  be  care- 
fully pegged  down,  trimmed  and  kept  free 
from  dead  leaves.  By  the  end  of  the  sec- 
219 


ANOTHER   HARDY  GARDEN  BOOK 

ond  Summer  strong  plants  that  have  been  so 
planted  and  well  cared  for  should  form  a 
border  from  eight  inches  to  a  foot  in  widtH. 
Where  the  Winters  are  too  severe  for  the 
English  Ivy  to  be  grown  against  buildings 
and  about  the  trunks  of  trees,  it  will  sur- 
vive when  grown  as  a  border  flat  upon  the 
ground,  where  it  can  be  covered  in  Novem- 
ber with  leaves  or  straw  and  evergreen 
branches. 

Early  in  April  some  fine  old  manure,  to 
which  a  small  quantity  of  bone-meal  and 
wood-ashes,  about  a  pailful  of  each  to  a 
wheelbarrow  of  manure,  have  been  added, 
should  be  dug  into  the  ground  about  the 
Roses,  shrubs,  and  vines;  the  reward  in 
increase  of  growth  and  quantity  of  flowers 
will  be  great. 

The  spray  machine  must  be  looked  over 
and  put  in  order  in  earliest  Spring,  and  the 
various  insecticides  provided  in  advance. 

Hollyhocks  must  be  sprayed  with  Bor- 
deaux mixture  as  soon  as  they  are  well  up, 
220 


SPRING 

which  should  be  repeated  about  the  10th  of 
May  and  again  the  1st  of  June,  to  prevent 
the  rust,  that  unsightly  disease  which  covers 
the  leaves  first  with  red  spots  and  then 
causes  them  to  shrivel  and  fall,  leaving  a 
bare  stalk.  This  year  I  have  taken  the 
precaution  to  spray  the  seedling  Holly- 
hocks three  times  during  the  Summer,  so 
that  I  hope  to  get  ahead  of  the  rust  en- 
tirely. 

The  Roses,  too,  should  be  sprayed  early 
in  April  with  kerosene  emulsion,  and  about 
the  1st  of  May  with  slugshot,  and  again, 
just  before  the  buds  form,  with  kerosene,  as 
prevention  against  the  creatures  that  attack 
them.  Gardeners  generally  say,  that  this  is 
unnecessary  and  wait  until  the  pests  appear, 
but  experience  has  taught  me  that  in  the 
end  it  is  less  labor  to  keep  ahead  of  the 
enemy. 

The  leaves  of  Monkshood  have  a  tendency 
to  turn  black  from  some  microbian  disease, 
which  will  be  averted  if  the  plants  are 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

sprayed  in  April,  May  and  June  with  Bor- 
deaux mixture. 

A  spray  of  tobacco  water  will  kill  the 
aphids  that  sometimes  appear  on  Chrys- 
anthemums, and  also  the  red  ones  that  occa- 
sionally infest  the  stems  of  Rudbeckias. 

Spraying  with  insecticides  becomes  more 
and  more  necessary  for  successful  growing 
of  fruit  and  flowers.  Many  plant  diseases 
are  even  more  infectious  and  contagious 
than  those  of  humanity,  and  it  is  often  too 
late  to  begin  spraying  when  the  trouble  is 
perceived.  Nothing  spreads  more  rapidly 
than  mildew  and  rust  when  once  they  make 
their  appearance.  And  while  Bordeaux  mix- 
ture, the  best  specific  for  these  disfiguring 
afflictions,  does  not  add  to  the  beauty  of  the 
plants  sprayed  with  it,  still  the  spraying 
must  be  done,  if  the  garden,  once  attacked 
with  these  troubles  is  to  be  preserved  in  a 
healthy  condition. 

Climbing  Roses  that  have  shown  signs  of 
mildew  the  previous  Summer,  should  also  be 


SPRING 

sprayed  in  March,  again  when  the  leaves 
appear,  and  a  third  time  after  the  roses 
have  fallen.  The  moment  that  worms 
appear  upon  the  currant  and  gooseberry 
bushes  they  must  be  sprayed  with  hellebore, 
and  one  application  is  generally  sufficient. 

The  parasitic  diseases  appear  in  orchard 
and  garden  without  warning  and  work  great 
havoc  in  a  short  time.  There  is  no  doubt 
but  that  the  spores  are  spread  by  the  winds 
or  carried  by  the  birds,  and  one  infected 
farm  or  garden  spreads  the  trouble  to  an- 
other. As  yet  our  place  has  been  free  from 
the  dreaded  San  Jose  scale,  although  neigh- 
boring farms  have  suffered  from  it.  I  trust 
that  the  future  will  see  us  still  immune. 

A  friend  on  a  neighboring  farm,  a  young 
man  who  attends  to  everything  in  the  most 
modern  and  scientific  manner,  is  a  great 
believer  in  the  efficiency  of  spraying,  has  a 
fine  equipment  for  the  purpose,  and  sees 
that  it  is  done  at  the  proper  times.  A 
member  of  his  family  recently  said  to  me: 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

"T has  sprayed  everything  on  the  farm 

that  can  be  sprayed,  and  I  fear  he  will  now 
begin  upon  the  family." 

While  there  are  many  advantages  in  Au- 
tumn planting,  better  results  being  obtained 
when  plants  need  not  be  disturbed  in  the 
Spring,  and  because  all  garden  work  accom- 
plished in  the  Fall  is  a  great  relief  in  the 
busy  Spring  days,  still  nearly  everything 
can  be  planted  in  the  Spring  if  necessary. 

Most  perennials  can  be  planted  in  Spring. 
A  few,  however,  such  as  Bleeding-Heart, 
Crown-Imperial,  Paeonies,  and  Valerian, 
start  so  early  that  they  should  always  be 
set  out  in  the  Fall.  On  the  other  hand, 
Japanese  Anemones,  Tritomas,  and  Mont- 
bretias  are  plants  that  must  always  be  set 
out  in  the  Spring,  as  they  must  be  well 
established  before  the  first  Winter.  Hybrid- 
perpetual  and  climbing  roses  can  be  set  out 
in  the  Spring,  if  planted  very  early  before 
growth  begins,  and  the  more  tender  varieties 
must  always  be  set  out  in  the  Spring. 


r?    2 


SPRING 

Where  the  climate  is  like  that  of  New 
York,  perennials  can  be  planted  safely 
about  the  15th  of  April,  and  the  earlier  it 
is  done,  the  less  chance  there  is  that  they 
will  receive  a  setback.  Success  in  planting 
depends  much  upon  attention  to  details. 
Care  must  always  be  taken,  to  properly  pre- 
pare the  ground,  to  give  the  roots  plenty  of 
room,  to  water  well  at  first  and  not  to  allow 
the  poor  things  to  suffer  for  want  of  food 
and  moisture. 

Along  in  May  if  a  mulch  of  grass-clip- 
pings, leaves  from  the  Autumn  before,  or 
old  stable  manure,  be  spread  over  the  Rose- 
beds,  tuberous-rooted  Begonias  and  Lilies,  it 
will  help  them  greatly  through  the  summer. 

Of  the  great  number  of  hardy  perennials 
the  following  are  a  few  of  those  easiest 
grown  and  most  satisfactory:  Aconitum  na- 
pellus  (Monkshood),  Agrostemma,  Anemone 
Japonica,  Aquilegia  (Columbine),  Bocconia, 
Boltonia,  Coreopsis  grandiflora,  Delphiniums, 
Dianihus,  Dicentra  spectabilis  (Bleeding- 
225 


ANOTHER  HARDY  GARDEN   BOOK 

Heart),  Dictamnus,  FunMas,  Helianthus 
multiflorus  plenus  (double  hardy  Sunflower), 
Hemerocallis  (Day  Lily),  Hibiscus,  Holly- 
hocks, Iris,  Lobelia  (Cardinal  flower),  Orien- 
tal Poppy,  Penstemon,  Phlox,  Platycodon 
Mariesi,  Scabiosi  Caucasia,  Spireas,  Tri- 
tomas,  Veronica,  Yuccas.  The  seed  bed 
must  be  prepared  as  soon  as  the  ground  can 
be  worked,  and  the  seeds  of  perennials 
sown  about  April  10th.  The  earth  for  this 
bed  should  be  made  very  light  and  fine,  and 
from  the  time  the  seeds  are  sown  until  they 
are  transplanted  to  their  final  home  the  little 
seedlings  must  never  be  allowed  to  dry  out. 
Of  the  foregoing,  the  following  will  be 
found  easy  to  raise  from  seed:  Columbines, 
Hollyhocks,  Sweet  William,  Platycodon 
Mariesi,  Delphiniums,  Coreopsis,  Hibiscus, 
Rockets,  and  Oriental  Poppies.  Also  of 
the  biennials,  Foxglove  and  Campanula 
(Canterbury  Bells).  But  it  is  better  at  first 
for  the  amateur  to  buy  the  plants  of  the 
other  varieties. 

226 


SPRING 

Annuals  may  be  sown  from  April  20th  to 
May  10th,  according  to  the  season.  Asters 
for  late  blooming  may  be  sown  up  to  the 
end  of  May. 

In  planting,  tall-growing  things  should 
be  set  at  the  back  of  the  bed  or  border, 
with  the  low-growing  ones  in  front.  Cata- 
logues usually  give  the  height,  period  of 
blooming  and  color  of  flowers,  so  that,  with 
a  little  study,  even  the  beginner  in  garden- 
ing cannot  go  astray.  The  flower  gardener 
must  remember  that  fine  effects  can  only 
be  produced  by  masses  of  color,  and  that  a 
number  of  each  variety  of  plants  should 
always  be  set  together.  Never  put  one  or 
two  lone  plants  by  themselves,  with  the  rest 
of  their  family  scattered  about  singly  or  in 
couples.  Speaking  of  large  clumps  reminds 
me  of  a  plot  eighteen  feet  by  forty,  entirely 
filled  with  tall-growing  perennial  Larkspur, 
which  is  a  beautiful  sight  when  blossoming, 
and  with  fifty  Japanese  Anemone  Whirl- 
wind, grown  in  a  mass,  which  surpasses  in 


ANOTHER    HARDY    GARDEN    BOOK 

beauty  all  other  sights  in  the  garden  when 
they  are  blooming. 

The  making  of  an  entirely  new  garden 
is  a  most  delightful  experience,  but,  like 
the  marriage  estate,  is  something  not  to  be 
undertaken  "lightly  or  unadvisedly."  The 
amateur,  who  is  a  beginner  in  flower  gar- 
dening, would  scarcely  be  successful  in 
planning,  making,  and  planting  a  new  gar- 
den, particularly  a  formal  garden,  without 
experienced  advice.  After  selecting  the  loca- 
tion and  determining  the  general  conditions 
and  character  of  the  new  garden,  the  place 
should  first  be  carefully  measured,  and 
plotted  accurately,  almost  to  the  inch.  Then 
make  a  plan  for  the  whole  in  detail,  with 
the  shape  of  every  bed.  After  this  has 
been  done,  and  the  gardener  is  convinced 
that  as  far  as  can  be  foreseen  it  is  the  most 
satisfactory  arrangement  for  the  ground, 
and  will  give  her  the  garden  of  her  dreams, 
let  the  actual  work  begin  and  let  it  not  be 
delayed  after  the  frost  has  left  the  ground. 
228 


SPRING 

Rocks  -  (if  they  are  in  the  wrong  place) 
should  be  blasted  out  and  stones  and  stumps 
removed.  The  sod  should  be  turned  up 
with  a  plow,  and  then  carted  off  and  piled 
in  some  out-of-the-way  place  to  decompose. 
It  will  then  be  ready  to  be  returned  to  the 
garden  and  made  useful  as  a  valuable  fer- 
tilizer, or  in  planting  trees,  shrubs  and 
Rhododendrons,  for  which  it  is  especially 
valuable  if  chopped  up  and  put  in  the  bot- 
tom of  the  hole  made  to  receive  the  roots. 
The  ground  should  then  be  carefully  lev- 
elled, thickly  covered  with  manure,  plowed 
deeply  and  harrowed  thoroughly  three  or 
four  times;  if  the  garden  is  not  too  large, 
it  should  be  spaded  over  as  well.  It  is  then 
in  condition  for  laying  out  the  beds  and 
walks.  For  this  work  there  should  be  a 
large  quantity  of  garden  cord,  a  long  meas- 
uring tape,  many  pointed  stakes,  and  a 
wooden  mallet.  The  center  of  the  plot  is 
first  marked  with  a  stake,  and  from  this 
point  the  other  measurements  are  taken  off 
229 


ANOTHER    HARDY   GARDEN    BOOK 

according  to  the  plan,  the  outlines  of  each 
bed  being  marked  by  stakes  driven  in  about 
every  three  feet,  with  cord  stretched  along 
between  them.  Cord  must  also  be  stretched 
to  mark  the  paths;  stakes  should  then  be 
driven  to  mark  the  places  for  trees,  which 
should  be  the  first  thing  planted.  If  it  is 
to  be  a  formal  garden,  pyramidal-shaped 
evergreens  are  the  best  for  the  purpose. 

In  preparing  the  beds,  better  flowers  will 
be  produced  for  a  longer  time  if,  for  a  bed 
ten  feet  long  by  four  feet  wide,  some  bone- 
meal,  leaf -mould  (if  any  can  be  found)  and 
wood-ashes — a  pailful  of  each — be  added  to 
a  wheelbarrow  of  manure,  with  a  sprinkling 
of  lime,  and  then  thoroughly  spaded  in.  If 
the  soil  be  heavy,  add  also  enough  sand  to 
lighten  it.  This  seems  a  prescription  of 
many  ingredients,  but  it  is  worth  the  trouble. 

If  the  garden  is  in  a  locality  where  Box 
will  grow,  although  the  expense  is  consider- 
able, it  will  be  a  great  addition  to  edge  the 
bed  and  paths  with  Box.  But  great  care 
230 


SPRING 

must  be  taken  to  set  the  little  Box  plants 
perfectly  straight.  The  beds  may  then  be 
planted  with  perennials,  annuals,  and  Lilies, 
according  to  your  taste;  but  remember 
always  to  preserve  harmony  of  color  and  to 
secure  effect  by  planting  a  number  of  each 
variety  together. 

If  the  paths  are  to  be  of  grass,  the 
grounds,  after  being  levelled,  need  only  be 
raked  smoothly,  the  grass  seed  sown  and 
carefully  raked  in  with  an  iron  rake  and 
the  paths  rolled. 

Grass  paths  have  but  two  disadvantages. 
They  are  impracticable  near  the  house  or 
where  they  are  put  to  severe  usage,  as  turf 
is  unable  to  resist  the  wear  of  constant 
walking.  They  are,  also,  often  damp  with 
dew  in  the  early  morning  and  always  wet 
for  a  time  after  a  rain,  but  they  will  dry 
quickly  if  the  grass  be  kept  closely  cut,  and 
the  owner  can  supply  herself  with  overshoes 
when  she  would  sally  forth  upon  the  wet 
turf.  How  many  of  us  must  plead  guilty 
231 


ANOTHER    HARDY    GARDEN    BOOK 

to  walking  upon  the  grass  borders  of  grav- 
eled paths  because  the  gravel  was  tiresome 
or  reflected  the  heat!  For  those,  however, 
who  spend  the  four  Winter  months  in  the 
country,  gravelled  walks  are  a  necessity  if 
they  are  to  be  used  at  all. 

If  they  are  to  be  gravelled,  they  must  be 
dug  out  a  foot  or  more  in  depth,  filled  in 
first  with  broken  stone,  then  a  layer  of 
coarse  gravel  and  finally  the  fine  gravel, 
and  all  well  rolled.  All  this  having  been 
done,  the  gardener  has  only  to  keep  tres- 
passers from  the  newly-sown  grass,  to  water 
his  garden  in  late  afternoon  and  to  possess 
his  soul  in  peace  until,  when  a  month  has 
slowly  passed,  he  will  find  the  beds  covered 
with  the  sturdy  green  shoots  of  the  new 
plants,  the  Box-edging  putting  forth  tender 
leaves,  the  grass  a  velvet  carpet,  and  he  can 
then  bid  his  friends  come  to  see  the  new 
garden  and  picture  to  them  its  future 
beauties,  which  imagination  has  already 
painted  upon  his  mind. 
232 


INDEX 


Abies  polita,  120. 
Abies  pyramidalis,  120,  125. 
Acacia,  rose,  126. 
Aconitum  napellus,  see  Monks- 
hood. 

AgeTatum,  144. 
Agrostema,  136,  145,  225. 
Ailanthus,  103. 
Alders,  97. 

Altheas,  125,  148,  203. 
American  ash,  103,  124. 
American  elm,  106. 
Anemone,  Japanese,  149. 
Anemone  Japonica,  225. 
Aphids,  66,  222. 
Apples,  62-65,  77,  80. 
Apple  worm,  64. 
Aquilegia,  see  Columbine 
Arbor  vitae,  120,  123,  125. 

Pyramidalis,  116. 
A  rondo  donax,  153. 
Arrow-head,  153 
Artichokes,  23-24. 
Ash,  103,  110,  124. 
Asparagus,  22,  24-27,  53,  60. 
Asters,  149,  170,  183. 

Flowering  time,  184. 

Planting  time,  227. 

Seeds,  196. 


Asters — 

Use    in    borders,    144,    145, 
146. 

White,  for  beds,  152. 
Auratum  lilies,  175. 

Blooming    time,     148,     179, 
181. 

Planting  of,  204. 

Shortcomings  of,  185. 
Austrian  pine,  122. 
Azaleas,  97,  125,  217,  218. 


Balsam,  145,  149,  196. 
Barberry,  126. 
Beans,  21,  22,  27-29. 
Beech  tree,  103,  110. 


Preparation  of,  172. 

Laying  out,  229,  230. 

Making  and  renewing,  198- 
199. 

Planting,  231. 

Time  for  making,  198. 
Bee  balm  (red),  153. 
Bees,  mixing  of  pollen  by,  50. 
Beetles,  37,  50,  102. 
Beets,  21,  29-30. 
Begonias,  183,  184,  210,  225. 


233 


INDEX 


Herberts  Thunbergii,  see  Bar- 
berry. 

Birch  trees,  104,  110,  124. 
Birds  in  garden,  188. 
Bitter  sweet,  97,  126. 
Blackberries,  80,  81. 
Black  knot,  74-75. 
Black  walnut  tree,  104. 
Bleeding-heart,  224,  225. 
Blooming,  time  of,  see  names 

of  plants. 

Boconia,  Cordata,  145,  225. 
Adapted    to    wet    places, 

153. 

Flowering  begins,  148. 
Height,  131. 

Suitable  on  edges  of  shrub- 
bery, 142. 
Boltonia,  225. 
glastifolia   (white),  142. 
Latisquama   (pink),  142. 
Bone  meal,  26,38,68,73,76. 
Borders — 

Arrangement  of,  227. 
Color  scheme  for,  142-147. 
Time  for  making,  198. 
Borers,  69,  72,  76,  102. 
Box,   117,   118,  121,  123,   166. 

170,  219,  230. 
Brussels  sprouts,  30-31. 
Bulbs    for    spring    flowering, 
204,    see    also    names    of 
flower*. 
Bushes,  62. 


Calendula,  148,  149,  196. 

Camelias,  149. 

Campanula,     see     Canterbury 

Bells. 
Cannas,  146. 

Blooming  season,  148,  200. 

Bulbs  of,  184. 

Care  of  roots,  209. 
Cantaloupe,  50. 
Canterbury  bells,  132,  134-135. 

Blooming  season,  147. 

Easily    raised     from    seed. 
226. 

Planting  of,  201-202. 

Use  in  borders,  144,  145. 
Cape  Cod  water  lily,  153. 
Cardinal  flowers,  146,  153, 226. 
Carnations,  137,  145. 
Carolina  poplar,  110. 
Carrots,  22,  31. 
Catalpa,  76,  104-106,  110. 
Catalpa  Bung'ri,  105,  106,  118. 
Caterpillars,  111. 
Cauliflower,  25,  31-32,  53. 
Cedars,  114,  120,  125. 
Celery,  22,  32-35,  53. 
Cellar  for  storage,  121. 
Centaureas,  see  Corn  flowers. 
Cherries,  65-67,  77,  80,  104. 
Cherry  trees,  104. 
Chestnut  tree,  104. 
Chicory,  35. 

Chimney-bell  flower,  134-135. 
Chinese  iris,  174. 
Chives,  52-53. 
Chokeberry  (black),  97. 


234 


INDEX 


Chrysanthemum,  57-58. 

Late-blooming  flowers,  149. 

Protection  from  frost,  200. 

Spraying  for  aphids,  222. 

Transplanting,  216. 
Cives,  52-53. 
Clematis,  118. 

Paniculata,  126. 

Wild,  98. 

Cockscomb,  146,  149. 
Codlin  moth,  64. 
Cold,    effect    of,    on    certain 

plants,  132,  148. 
Coleus,  129. 
Colonial  gardens,  16T. 
Color  phases   of  the  Garden, 

147,  148. 

Colored  borders,  142-147. 
Colorado  blue  spruce,  123, 125. 
Colorado  fir,  123,  125. 
Columbines,  142,  144,  145,  201. 
Copper  beech,  104,  124. 
Coreopsis,  148. 

Orandiflora,  225. 
Corn,  21,  35-37. 
Corn    flowers,    144,    147,    149, 

196. 

Corn  salad,  35. 
Cosmos,  149,  196. 
Crap  apples,  67. 
Crocuses,  205. 
Crown  imperial,  224. 
Cucumbers,  37,  50. 
Curculio,  66,  71,  72,  74. 
Currants,  22,  78,  79,  223. 

Daffodils,  205,  214,  216. 


Dahlias,  184,  200,  209. 
Day  lily,  226. 

Yellow,  175,  178,  185. 
Deciduous  trees,  94,  103. 
Delphiniums,  225. 
Deutzias,  118,  218. 

Gracilis,  125. 
Dianthus,  225. 
Dicentra  spectabilis,  see 

B  leeding-heart. 
Dictamnus,  226. 
Dictamnus  fraxlnella,  137. 
Dogwood,  104,  110. 
Dwarf  fruit  trees,  61. 
Early  American  gardens,  167. 
Egg-plants,  26,  37-38,  53. 
Elm  (American),  106. 
English  gardens,  167. 
English  ivy,  187,  219. 
Enonymus  Radicans    (ever- 
green), 126. 
Eupatorium,  153. 
Evening  primrose,  141. 
Evergreens,  111-116. 

List  of,  125. 

Shearing  time,  123. 

Suitable  for  lawn,  122-123. 

Hedge  of,  18,  19. 
Ferns,  153. 

Fertilizer,  when  to  use,  208. 
Fir  trees,  123. 
Flower  garden — 

Autumn  work  in,  195-210. 

In  the  Spring,  213-232. 
[See  also  Garden;  names 
of  flowers.] 


INDEX 


Flower  and  vegetable  garden 

combined,  19,  20. 
Flowers — 

Colors  of,  136-148,  150,  151. 
153,  see  also  names  of 
flowers. 

Production  increased  by- 
cutting,  137. 
Foxgloves,  132. 
Early  blooming  flowers,  147. 
Easily  raised  from  seed,  226. 
Seeds,  196. 
Transplanting,  201. 
Use  in  borders,  145. 
Frost,    effect    of    on    garden, 

200,  205. 

Funkias,  185,  226. 
Fruits,  57-89. 

Soil  and  location  for,  61. 
Suitable  for  small  gardens. 

80. 
Varieties  best  for  planting. 

61. 
[See  also  names  of  fruits; 

Fruit  trees.] 
Fruit  garden,  61,  80. 

[See  also  names  of  fruits; 

Fruit  trees;  Garden.] 
Fruit  trees — 
Beauty  of,  in  blossom,  57- 

60. 

Care  of,  76. 
Grubbing,   64. 
Planting,  62. 
Varieties  to  choose,  76. 


Fruit  trees— 

[See    also    names    of    fruit 

trees.] 

Fungus  diseases,  64,  73. 
Gaillardias,  132,  148. 
Garden,  154-155,  190. 

Benefits  of,  12,  13. 

Birds  in,  188. 

Care  of,  9-12,  160-162. 

Colonial,  167,  168. 

Colors,  147,  148. 

English    and    early    Amer- 
ican, 167. 

Italian,  167. 

Lilies  and  iris,  165,  191. 

Planning  for,  228. 

Preparation    of,    172,    195, 
229. 

Uses  of,  160,  189. 

[See  also  kinds  of  gardens 

— Flower,  Fruit,  etc.] 
Geranium,  129. 
Gladioli,  177,  183,  184. 

Color  effects,  145,  146,  148. 

Roots,  care  of,  209. 
Godetias,  150. 

Golden  glow,  148,  206,  222. 
Gooseberries,  79,  80,  223. 
Grapes,  77,  80. 

Varieties,  78. 

Wild,  97,  126. 
Grape  vines,  62. 
Grass,  214,  215. 
Grubs,  72,  135. 

Gumbo   soup,   recipe   for,  40- 
42. 


236 


INDEX 


Hardy  perennials,  225-226. 
Hedges,  18. 

Vegetable  garden,  19,  217. 

[See  also  names  of  hedges — 

Box,  etc.] 

Helianthus  florus  plenus,  132. 
Helianthus  multiflorus  plenus. 

see  Sunflower. 
Hemerocallis  ftorham,  see  Day 

lily  (yellow). 
Hemlock,  114,  123,  125. 
Hemlock  spruce,  18,  76,  217. 
Herbs,  52-53. 
Hibiscus,   153,  226. 

moscheutos,  142. 
Hickory  tree,  104,  110. 
Hollyhocks,  145. 

Flowering,  129,  214. 

Good  garden  flowers,  226. 

Seeds,  151,  196. 

Spraying  necessary,  220- 
221. 

Suitable  for  edges  of  shrub- 
beries, 142. 
Honey-locust,  217. 
Honeysuckle,  118,  126,  215. 
Horse  chestnut,  107. 
Hyacinths,  205,  216. 
Hyacinths   (water),  153. 
Hyacinthus  candicans,  145. 
Hydrangeas,  126,  148. 

Insectides,  220. 

Iris,  148,  173,  184,  206,  226. 

German,  144,  178,  208. 

Japanese,  see  that  title. 


Insectides — 

Varieties  of,  174,  178. 
Irish  juniper,  116,  118. 
Irish  yew,  120,  121. 
Italian  and  Colonial  gardens, 

differences,   167. 
Ivy,  English,  187,  219. 

Japanese,    love    of,    for    fruit 

trees,  57-58. 
Japanese  anemones,  149,   203. 

224. 

Whirlwind,  227. 
[See  Anemone.] 
Japanese  cedars,  120. 
Japanese  cypress,  120. 
Japanese    iris,    138,    144,    145, 

174. 
Beginning  of  blooming,  147, 

178. 
Flourishes    in    wet    places, 

153. 

Separation  of  clumps,  208. 
Japanese  lily  (wallacei),  175, 

180. 

Japanese  quince,  125. 
Japanese  snowball,  126. 
Japanese  tree  pseonies,  142. 
Jerusalem  artichoke,  142. 
Junipers,  121. 

Larch,  107,  110. 

Larkspur,   129,   144,   148,   196, 

202. 

Laurel,  97,  218. 
Mountain,  217. 


237 


INDEX 


Lavender,  52,  53. 
Lettuce,  38-39. 
Lilacs,  218. 

French,  125. 
Liatris,  139. 
Lilies,  57. 

Care  of  in  May,  225. 

Color  effects,  148. 

Garden    of   lilies    and   iris,  | 

165. 

Planting  bulbs,  175. 
Soil  best  adapted  for,  173. 
Varieties,  175,  184-185. 
Auratum  lily,  see  that 

title. 

Brazilian,  177,  179. 
Madonna,  166,  178,  203. 
Melpomene,  182. 
Rubellum,  179,  185. 
Scarlet  Turk's  cap,  180. 
Tiger  lilies,  see  that  title. 
[See   also  names,  Lilium, 

etc.] 

Lilium  album,  145,  152,  182. 
Lilium  auratum,  see  Auratum 

lily. 

Lilium  Batemanni,  175,  180. 
Lilium  Brownii,  175,  180,  185. 
Lilium  Canadense,  175,  179, 

185. 

Lilium  Candidum,  see  Ma- 
donna lily. 
Lilium  Chalcedonicum,  see 

Scarlet  Turk's  cap. 
Lilium  excelsum,  175. 
Lilium  gigantium,  182. 


Lilium  Krameri,  175,  179,  185. 

Lilium  Leichtlinii,  181. 

Lilium  Leichlinii  rubellum, 
175. 

Lilium  longiftorum,  180,  185. 

Lilium  speciosum  album,  175. 
185. 

Lilium  speciosum  rubrum. 
144,  175,  182,  185,  204. 

Lilium  superbum,  175,  181. 
185. 

Lily  of  the  valley,  205. 

Lima  beans,  28-29. 

Lime,  salt  and  sulphur  spray 
of  U.  S.  Agricultural  De- 
partment, 71. 

Linden,  107. 

Lobelia,  see  Cardinal  flowers. 

Locust,  76,  107,  124. 

Lombardy  poplar,  108-109. 

Lonicera  alba,  see  Honey- 
suckle. 

"Loose  strife,"  153. 

Lotus,  Egyptian,  186. 

Lupins,  perennial,  138. 

Lychnis,  148,  146. 

Lysimachia,  see  Loose  strife. 

Magnolia,  110,  217,  218. 

Conspicua,  108. 

Soulangiana,  108. 
Maples,  103. 
Mariesi,  226. 
Marigolds,  148,  196. 
Marshmallow,  142. 
Melons,  50,  87,  88. 


238 


INDEX 


Microbe  diseases  in  fruit 

trees,  64. 
Monkshood,  129,  144,  149,  221. 

225. 

Montbretias,  224. 
Mountain  laurel,  217. 
Mushrooms,  39-40,  60-61. 
Musk  melon,  varieties  of,  88. 

Narcissus,  205. 
Nasturtiums,  196. 
Native  trees,  94. 
Nelumbium     Speciosum,     171, 

186. 

Nitrate  of  soda,  26,  76. 
Nitrates,  68. 
Norway  maple,  103. 
Norway  spruce,  123. 
Nymphae   (English),  186. 

flava  (English),  153. 

odorata  rosea,  153. 

[See  Water  lilies.] 

Oak,  103,  110,  124. 
Oenothera  lamarchiana,  see 

Evening  primrose. 
Okra,  40-42. 
Onions,  42-44. 
Oriental  poppies,  142,  226. 

Paeonies,  57,  142,  166. 
Among  currant  bushes,  79. 
Blooming  at  end  of  May, 
147. 


Paeonies— 

Early  appearance  in  Spring, 
214. 

Treatment  of  plants  in  Fall, 

207-208,  224. 
Pansy,  197,  198. 
Paris  green,  spray  of,  50,  64. 
Parsley,  44. 
Parsnips,  44. 
Paths,  231,  232. 
Peaches,'  70-74,  80. 
Pears,  68,  80. 
Peas,  22,  44-47. 
Penstemon,  146,  148,  226. 

Digitalis,  136. 

Barbatus  Torreyi,  135. 
Peppers,  47-48,  51. 
Perennials,  129-162. 

Compared  with  bedding-out 
plants,  129. 

Effect  of  cold  on,  132. 

Hardy,  225-226. 

Increasing  stock  of,  131. 

Value  of,  130,  131. 
Petunias,  129. 
Phlox,  129,  131,  148. 

Cocliquot,  146. 

Differences  in  color,  151. 

Division  of  roots,  206. 

Drummondi,  145,  149,  150. 

Early  appearance  of,  214. 

Satisfactory  garden  flowers, 
226. 

Pink,  144. 

White,  145. 
Pin  oak,  103. 


239 


INDEX 


Pine   trees,   76,   114,   122-123, 

125. 

Plane  tree,  110. 
Plant  diseases,  222. 
Planting — 
Arrangement  of  borders, 

227. 

Autumn   planting,  203. 
Blackberries,  81. 
Catalpa,  105. 
Currants,  79. 
Deciduous  trees,  99. 
Dogwood,  104. 
Evergreens,  112,  116. 
Grapes,  77-78. 
Iris,  175-176. 
Lilies,  175-176,  204. 
Raspberries,  82. 
Shrubs,  218. 
Strawberries,  83. 
Time  of,  137,  139,  149,  151, 
152,    154,    177,    183,    186, 
195,    197,    198,    201,    203, 
205,  224,  225. 
Willows,  102. 
Plants- 
Affected  by  frost,  205. 
Covering  for  winter,  210. 
For  edges  of  shrubberies, 

142. 

Tying  up,  160. 
With  blue  flowers,  138,  139. 
With  white  flowers,  136,  137, 

138. 

With  yellow  flowers,  141. 
142. 


Platycodon,  141,  144,  145,  226. 

Plums,  74-75,  80. 

Pollen,  mixed  by  bees,  50. 

Pond  lilies,  see  Water  lilies. 

Pool,  method  of  making,  168. 

Poplars,  109,  110. 

Poppies,  146,  147,  148,   196. 

Oriental,  142,  226. 
Privet  hedges,  118. 
Pruning,  218-219. 

Grapes,  78. 

Trees,  111. 
Purple  beech,  104. 
Purple  lilac,  125. 

Quince,  75. 
Japanese,  125. 

Radishes,  48. 
Raspberries,  80,  82. 
Replanting,  206. 
Retinispora,  120,  123. 
Retinispora  plumosa,  see  Jap- 
anese cypress. 

Squarrosa,  120,  121. 
Rhododendrons,  153,  182,  217. 
218. 

Maximum,  97. 
Rhubarb,  22,  48-49,  53. 
Rockets,  145. 

Roses,  147,  149,  166,  203,  221, 
225. 

Baroness  Rothschild,  119. 

Climbing,  215,  222. 

Clotile  soupert,  149. 

Climbing  Rambler,  118,  148. 


240 


INDEX 


Roses — 

Ever-blooming,  216. 

Hybrid  perpetual,  119. 

Jubilee,  149. 

Kaiserin  Augusta  Vic- 
toria, 119. 

La  France,  149. 

Madame  Plantier,  149. 

Margaret  Dixon,  119. 

Mont  Brutus, -203. 

Mrs.  Lang,  149. 

Sweet  briar,  97,  119. 

Soupert  (pink),  149. 

Winchuriana,  118. 
Rudbeckia,  see  Golden  glow. 

Sage,  52,  53. 

Salsify,  49. 

Salvias,  129,  146,  148,  151,  152. 
200. 

San  Jos6  scale,  71. 

Savory,  52. 

Scabiosa  Caucasia,  144,  226. 

Scarlet  Turk's  cap,  175,  180. 

Scotch  pine,  122. 

Seeds- 
Gathering,  196,  197. 
Mistakes  in  color,  150-151. 

Seed  bed- 
Preparation  of,  226. 

Shearing  time  for  certain 
trees,  123. 

Shrubs,  list  of,  125,  126. 
Planting,  218. 

Siberian  arbor  vitae,  18,  217. 

Small  fruits,  60. 


Snap  dragon,  149. 
Snowball,  Japanese,  126. 
Snowdrops,  205. 
Soil- 
Preparation  of,  168-169, 

171,  172,  230. 
for  melons,  87. 
Sowing — 

Seed  in  hot-bed,  151. 

Time  for,  215,  226,  227. 

[See  also  names  of  plants.] 
Speedwell,  139. 
Spinach,  22,  49-50. 
Spiraea,  226. 
Spiraea  aruncus,  131. 
Spiraea  palmata,  144,  146. 
Spiraea  von  Houttei,  147. 
Sprays — 

Bordeaux    mixture,    37,    50, 
64,  73,  75. 

Lime,    salt   water   and   sul- 
phur, 71. 

Paris  green,  50,  64. 

Tobacco  water,  66. 
Spraying — 

Fruit  trees,  76. 

Gooseberries,  79. 

Time  for,  221-224. 
Spray  machine,  220. 
Spring  work,  213. 
Spruce  trees,  120,  123. 
Squash,  50. 
Standard  box,  219. 
Stocks,  149. 
Storage  of  plants,  121. 


INDEX 


Strawberries,  80,  82-87. 

Varieties,  87. 
Stream  or  pond,  use  of,  152- 

153. 

Sugar  maple,  103. 
Sulphur,  use  on  lily  bulbs,  174. 
Sumac,  97. 
Sunflowers,  142,  148,  196. 

Double,  hardy,  226. 
Sweet  corn,  35-37. 
Sweet  peas,  196,  215. 
Sweet  Sultan,  145,  149. 
Sweet  William,  147,  196,  201, 

226. 

Sycamore  (plane  tree),  110. 
Syringas,  147,  218. 

Grandiflora,  125. 


Thuja  pyramidalis,  see  Arbor 

vita*. 
Thuja  Vervaeneana,  see  Arbor 

vitae. 

Thyme,  52. 

Tiger  lilies,  177,  181,  185,  197. 
Tilia,  see  Linden. 
Tobacco  water  spray,  66. 
Tomatoes,  51,  53. 
Transplanting,  202. 

Deciduous  trees,  94,  95. 

Evergreens,  113,  115. 

Poplars,  110. 

Seedlings,  201. 

Trees  and  shrubs,  97,  110. 

[See  also  names  of  plants; 
Gar  dent.} 


Trees,  93-126. 

Cultivation  of,  101. 

Growth  of,  101. 

Lists  of,  124. 

Method  of  transportation, 

96. 

Trilliums,  142. 
Tritomas,  132,  203,  224,  226. 
Pfitzerii,  146,  150. 
Trumpet  creeper,  118,  215. 
Tulips,  152,  205,  214,  216. 
Tulip  tree,  98,  110,  124. 

Blooming,  time  for,  110. 

Native,  110. 
Turnips,  51-52. 

Valerian,  129,  145,  224. 

Greek,  139,  144. 
Vegetable   garden,   17-54. 

Drainage,  20. 

Economy  of,  9,  53-54. 

Fertilization  of,  20-21. 

Hedge  for,  18-19. 

Laying  out,  17-20. 

Planting  of,  21-22. 

Preparation  of  soil,  21. 

Size  of,  17. 

[See    also    names    of   vege- 
tables.] 

Vegetable  seeds,  53-54. 
Verbena  venosa,  144. 
Veronica,  129,  139,  144,  226. 

Longifolia,  see  Speedwell. 
Viburnum  plicatum,  118,  126. 
Vines,  97,  126,  215. 
Virginia  creeper,  97,  126. 


242 


INDEX 


Vitis  odorata,  126. 
Wallacei,  see  Japanese  lily. 
Walnut  tree,  104. 
Walpole,  Horace,  his  Essay  on 

"Modern  Gardening,"  122. 
Water  Garden,  see  Stream  or 

Pond. 

Water  hyacinths,  153. 
Water  lilies,  153,  186-187. 
Watermelons,  varieties  of,  88. 
Weeping  birch,  104. 
White  birch,  104,  124. 
White  oak,  103. 
White  pine,  76,  114,  125. 


Wild  vines,  97. 
Willow  trees,  102,  152. 
Winter,  effect  of,  when  unusu- 
ally severe,  118. 
Wistaria,  57,  118,  126. 
Witch  hazel,  97. 

Yellows,  71. 
Yew,  Irish,  120. 
Yuccas,  226. 

Zinnias,  149,  150 


243 


A  WOMAN'S  HARDY  GARDEN 

BY  HELENA  RUTHERFURD  ELY 

WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS   FROM   PHOTOGRAPHS  TAKEN  IN 
THE  AUTHOR'S  GARDEN  BY  PROFESSOR  C.  F.  CHANDLER 


Cloth.     l£mo.     $1.75  net 


"A  BOOK  TO  BE  WELCOMED  WITH  ENTHUSIASM 
BY  THE  WILLING  NOVICE  IN  GARDENING  .  .  . 
REALLY  PRACTICAL  DIRECTIONS  FOR  MAKING  A 
CHARMING  BUT  NOT  TOO  AMBITIOUS  FLOWER 
GARDEN."— New  York  Tribune. 

"  It  is  never  for  a  moment  vague  or  general,  and  Mrs.  Ely  is  cer- 
tainly inspiring  and  helpful  to  the  prospective  gardener." 

—Bon ton  Herald. 

"  Mrs.  Ely  gives  copious  details  of  the  cost  of  plants,  the  exact 
dates  of  planting,  the  number  of  plants  required  in  a  given  space  for 
beauty  of  effect  and  advantage  to  free  growth,  the  protection  needed 
from  sun  and  frost,  the  precautions  to  take  against  injury  from  in- 
sects, the  satisfaction  to  be  expected  from  the  different  varieties  of 
plants  in  the  matter  of  luxuriant  bloom  and  length  of  time  for  blossom- 
ing, and  much  information  to  be  appreciated  only  by  those  who  have 
raised  a  healthy  garden  by  the  slow  teachings  of  personal  experi- 
ence."— N.  Y.  Times'  Saturday  Review. 

"In  short,  gathered  in  this  haridy  book  are  the  results  of  many 
years  of  hardy  gardening." — The  New  York  Herald. 

"MRS.  ELY  IS  THE  WISEST  AND  MOST  WINNING 
TEACHER  OF  THE  FASCINATING  ART  OF  GARDEN- 
ING THAT  WE  HAVE  MET  IN  MODERN  PRINT." 

-New  York  Tribune. 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

64-66     FIFTH     AVENUE,     NEW     YORK 


OUR  MOUNTAIN  GARDEN 

BY  MRS.  THEODORE  THOMAS 
WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS    PROM    PHOTOGRAPHS 

Cloth.     18mo.     SI. 50  net 


Our  Mountain  Garden.'  by  Mrs  Theodore  Thomas,  is  one  of  the 
latest,  freshest  and  most  enticing  calls  to  the  new  life  awaiting  us  in 
seed,  soil  and  blossom,  when  we  know  enough  to  take  it  in  our  own 
hands.  Indeed,  as  a  health  restorer  and  beauty  giver,  the  story  of  this 
garden  is  largely  presented  by  the  enthusiastic  gardener.  It  is  the 
whole  sweet  story  of  the  artist's  home  and  pleasuring  in  the  fair  New 
Hampshire  hills,  that  goes  with  it,  and  adds  to  it  much  of  its  finest 
charm."— The  St.  Louis  Globe  Democrat. 

"It  is  a  book  much  resembling  'Elizabeth  and  Her  German  Garden,' 
both  in  its  spontaneity  and  in  its  unfeigned  love  of  outdoor  life,  though 
without  a  trace  of  Elizabeth's  inhospitable  attitude  toward  those  who 
love  the  more  frivolous  things  of  life.  In  fact,  the  visit  of  a  friend 
who  came  with  a  wagon  load  of  trunks  full  of  fine  clothes  affords  some 
of  her  cheeriest  pages."— The  Record-Herald,  Chicago. 

"  Notwithstanding  that  there  is  an  endless  number  of  books  about 
gardening  published,  they  will  continue  to  be  welcome  if  they  are  all 
as  entertaining  as  this  one  by  Mrs.  Thomas.  Unless  1  am  much  mis- 
taken, it  will  have  the  effect  of  inspiring  other  women  to  experiment  in 
mountain  gardening."— JEANNETTE  L.  GILDER  in  The  Chicago  Tribune. 

"  Mr.  Thomas  seems  to  deserve  as  much  credit  for  the  results  as  his 
wife,  for  he  planned  the  garden  as  a  recreation  during  the  winter 
concert  season,  while  Mrs.  Thomas  carried  out  the  details  of  the  floral 
decorations.  This  fact  gives  the  book  distinction.  The  volume  also 
differs  from  most  of  its  class,  in  that  Mrs.  Thomas  frankly  admits  that 
she  had  had  little  or  no  experience,  that  the  '  wise  ones '  she  consulted 
could  not  always  be  relied  on,  and  that  her  mountain  cottage  and  the 
twenty-five  acres  of  wilderness  surrounding  it  became  a  beauty  spot 
after  the  manner  of  Topsy's  uprearing — it  '  just  growed'  .  .  .  The 
style  is  delightfully  informal  and  sometimes  humorous,  and  the  book 
is  well  worth  a  perusal  even  by  those  nature  lovers  who  are  not  enthu- 
siasts on  the  question  of  gardens."— Ph iladelphia  Ledger. 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

61-66     FIFTH     AVENUE,     NEW     YORK 


E5 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


A     000  557  453     8 


